Whatever It Takes
by MellyHorror-Salvatore-Northman
Summary: When leaving is hard, coming back can be even harder. But sometimes you just can't let go of the things you love, even after they've hurt you. Jori. Rated: M. Fake It Sequel.
1. Chapter 1

**Whatever It Takes  
**

**Summary: Tori Vega is a good actress, but she's tired of pretending. All she wants is her old life, her old friends, and her girlfriend back. When leaving is hard, coming back can be even harder. Jade West is tired of the pain, tired of feeling sorry for herself, and ready to start fresh. But sometimes you just can't let go of the things you love, even after they've hurt you.  
**

**Pairing: Jori**

**Rated: M**

**Welcome to the Fake It Sequel! This story has a time jump, it completely skips January through August from where Fake It ended. It also switches between Tori and Jade's point of view. Hope you all like it, and don't worry, in time all things missed will be explained.**

I never imagined returning to Hollywood Arts would be a walk in the park, even I couldn't be that stupid. But I guess I just never expected what I got when I walked into Sikowitz class. The class was just the same as the first day I came here. I set my stuff next to the same chair as I always had. Nobody gave my seat choice a second glance, but they stared at me which was unnerving.

Robbie was staring at me particularly hard, "hey Robbie." I greet shyly. A smile works its way onto his face and he stands up and hugs me awkwardly, "How've you been?" I ask when he pulls away. I look at him hard. He's gotten a lot more muscle and he's not dressed like he normally was. He's wearing guy's jeans; that was something new.

"Good, I've been good. I didn't believe it when people said you were coming back." He shoved his hands into his pockets his shoulders hunching up toward his ears, "maybe you should move your stuff over next to me. Something tells me you don't want to sit there."

I glance at him nervously but pick up my bag and set it beside the chair next to him, he glances at the door where I can see a bobbing red head, Cat's voice seeps into the room and in a flash she's hugging me tightly, arms around my throat squealing into my ear, "I told them you'd be back! I told them!" she hugged me as hard as she could, until I almost couldn't breathe, then she let me go stepped back and threw her arms back around my neck happily.

Beck had walked in behind her, "Hey Tori." He greets, his eyes flicker back to the door for a second then to my bag and he seems relieved, my nerves shot up when I realize that Jade probably sits over there, and that's who they're protecting me from, or trying to. Dread has been sitting in my stomach knowing I'd see her again and Cat must sense the tenseness in my shoulders because she finally lets me go.

I sink into the seat next to Robbie and Cat sat beside me, Beck behind me. They caught me up on a lot of things I missed. Beck got a new movie role-which I actually knew about- Robbie got rid of Rex when he started dating some girl and when they broke up he just left the puppet alone unless he was on stage. Cat had, had two boy friends and got put on the wall for the best designer in her design class-which wasn't too much of a shock.

"And Andre is the second top in the piano class; I think he would hate that so much more if it wasn't Jade in first place." Cat babbled, "And I'm so excited you're doing senior year here. It wouldn't be the same without you. The end of last year was so awkward." I nod carefully, sliding down in my seat. I wasn't looking forward to this year as much as I had been this morning. Now I just wanted to go back to my apartment, crawl under my covers and bury myself.

The bell rings, Andre and Jade haven't walked in. Neither has Sikowitz. We all look around, waiting for him to burst in and scare us. Ten minutes into class we've all given up on catching him, he's going to scare us and we don't care to keep waiting for him to waltz in.

When he finally slams the door open his eyes scan across the students assembled in the class, then at a paper in his hand, "where are Harris and West?" he inquires. As if they'd been watching him from the other door, it opens and Andre and Jade walk in.

Andre doesn't look much different. He's still got the smile he always has on his face. He's in a red and white striped shirt and a pair of faded baggy jeans with bright red shoes on. He drops his bag at the chair I'd originally set my stuff down by and looks at Sikowitz, "we were in piano." he explains, as if that would be enough.

Jade simply walks up to him hands him a paper and spins back around to head to her seat and her eyes land on mine. The green color turned into an icy death trap and I felt like I was frozen in place being flayed. She looked away in a blink and sat beside Andre, but I was still frozen in terror. I'd never been on the end of a glare like that from her.

She looked different. Her dark hair held no highlights; it hung around her face pin straight like a curtain. Her makeup was a little lighter, but not by much. Her stare was intense, like she was focused and pissed off. Her shoulders were rigid and her back ramrod straight as she crossed her legs and tapped one heeled foot in the air. No boots. Slim jeans in a dark blue color, a dark purple top. It was the same girl, but different. Still hints of my Jade, mixed with old Jade, mixed with new Jade.

"This better not happen often." Sikowitz warns; I doubt he expects either of them to listen.

"It wont." Jade replied, actually sounding sincere. I couldn't tell if it was an act. Sikowitz had been her favorite teacher last year, and he probably still was this year, so I didn't doubt that she wasn't being honest.

Sikowitz started the lesson with us acting out random things, hyper fans, depressed old people, and things like that until he decided we'd had enough warming up, "now for some ABC improv!" groans circled the room, we didn't want to do that. Memories of my second day here floated around my thoughts. I grimaced.

"Jade, Oliver, Harris, Cat, Vega. Let's go." Beck walked up beside me with Cat bouncing onto the platform in front of us. Jade and Andre looked annoyed as they dragged themselves from their chairs and up to the stage, making a big production out of it, "Now Curly, a letter!"

"T." he blurts, looking flustered at being called on so suddenly, since he'd been staring out the window before. His eyes return to the window once Sikowitz looks away.

"Cat. T." Sikowitz says.

"Today is such a great day!" she blurts happily, grinning at me.

"Unlike every other day for you?" Jade snorts, Cat looks offended and hurt, her bottom lip juts out and tears glisten in her eyes.

"Very mature." I snap, stepping forward slightly; Jade glares at me hard enough to make my throat want to close up.

"Well this is awkward." Beck steps in.

"Xtremely." Andre looks at Sikowitz for approval. He shrugs.

"You guys are so mean." Cat huffs the sad pout now replaced by an unhappy pout I'd liken to a child not being able to get a toy.

"Zebras are too." Jade says after a pause.

"Always blaming animals for your faults." I roll my eyes. She's glaring at me again and inside I want to shrink back but my stupid stubbornness wont back down.

"But Zebras _can_ be mean." Beck steps between us, much like on the first day. Always trying to play the good guy.

"Can we change the subject?" Andre snaps.

"Do whatever you want." Cat replies, sounding a lot less upset, but not quite as happy as before.

"This is ridiculous." Jade says stomping down to her seat.

"Extremely." I agree.

"Forget how ridiculous it is, it can be fun, right?" Beck tries.

"Good try, but I don't think so." Andre muttered.

"How about we all just try to have fun!" Cat says, her voice sounding pouty.

"I don't know…" I say.

"Just isn't that easy." Beck says.

"I'm done." Andre says.

"Kill joys!" Cat complains.

"Look Cat, a bird!" I point out the window, there's not a bird but it gets her attention.

"Man that's one big bird!" Beck says with mock amazement.

"Never seen one so large!" Cat agrees.

"Oh my god it's going to fly right in here!" Cat squeals, diving to the floor like the bird flew through the window.

"People! It eats people!" Beck flattens himself to the ground and so do I.

"Quite scary!" Cat yells.

"Really frightening!" I agree.

"Yeah! Oh crap." Beck stands and walks back to his seat.

"Shelter! We need to find shelter!" Cat yells.

"As fun as this seems to be for you two, I've got to stop you. Class is almost over. Good job girls. Andre, Jade if you purposely disqualify yourselves again I will give you detention." He tells them as Cat and I get up and take our seats again.

Sikowitz seems to be watching everyone and then he looks at me and then back at the class, "No. I don't want to talk about it." I tell him, because I have a feeling that will piss two people off very much and that's not going to help my situation in anyway, shape, or form.

"Fine." He heaves in a deep breath, "West, how was filming that movie over the summer?" he sits down across from Jade who looks like she'd rather be anywhere else, but she sits up straighter.

"It was interesting; I got to stage fight with Alyssa Vaughn, which made things entertaining. But the girl is a straight up gank." Her eyes flick back toward Beck, almost daring him to disagree. She went onto talk about cool things that cast did on set and a few pranks and when the bell rings she stops talking almost instantly and stands up, her and Andre rushing from the room before anyone else has even reached for their backpacks.

I glance down at my schedule. I've got piano for beginners, upon my managers requests. My feet drag me toward my class as I look at the rest of the classes. College Algebra, Gym, English 4, and for my last two class periods I would go to the studio to record. I pull the door open and peer around the class. I'm alone so far.

"Sorry I'm late-oh nobody has showed up. Not shocking." The man I'm assuming is our teacher mutters and then his eyes land on me and he's embarrassed, "Oh I'm sorry I didn-."

"It's fine, it's actually a relief to go unnoticed." I wave off his concern, still looking around the chair-less room. "Where should I sit…?"

"The risers. You're Tori Vega, right?" I nod as I head over to the risers that are built into the floor. I take a seat in the far corner, "it's nice to meet you, I'm Dan Richards." He shook my hand and smiled kindly.

"Nice to meet you, too."

A few more kids trickled in, none of them really gave me a second glance and I was thankful, "ah that's everybody except for my teacher's aide. Oh well." The class's grand total was 7.

"Okay, welcome to Piano for beginners. I'm Dan Richards; you can call me Mr. R or Mr. Richards. This course is fairly easy. I will just go over the basics, reading music will be gone over first, just a brief review to see where you're all at and based on the speed you pick it up you'll be given certain music to work on. I don't expect perfection. I just want you t-."

Mr. Richard's head spun around when the door to his classroom opened and Jade strolled in, her horrifying and analyzing gaze swept across everyone. Almost every person's eyes went wide with shock or fear, shoulders tense, spines ramrod straight. When her eyes landed on me anger filled her gaze, "can't you get your own classes?" she hissed.

"This is my class." I reply narrowing my eyes at her to at least look like I'm not ready to run away, "And I don't have a say in the matter."

"Jade, go sit down and play a keyboard or something." Mister Richards says in a calm tone with a hard glare to contradict it. She smiles at him and stomps up the risers between two kids toward a keyboard. From the depths of her Gears of War bag she produces a pair of headphones, with what looks like stickers of scissors on them, and plugs them in, her eyes closing as she starts to play something only she could hear.

"Now, you'll need to purchase a set of headphones, preferably ones that match up to our keyboards. I'll give you the specifics, and if you can find a place you can practice. My door is always open, but it's great to practice at home. You'll also need to buy this book, I can give it to you for 5 bucks here, or you can try and buy it somewhere else. Now I want you to go back to those pianos and make up a little tune that you think describes you and then you can come play it for everyone else."

The others were quick to get up and grab pianos which left me with one piano choice, since the others were still packed away. It was beside Jade, who seemed thankfully lost in her own world. I silently slid the chair from the keyboard back and sat down. I played a few random tunes, already knowing that I was going to play the first one I'd played.

As soon as he called us back I got up and sprinted from the keyboard to my original spot on the floor-far away from Jade. Once everyone was sitting again he looked around hopefully for a volunteer.

"Come on, none of you wants to play? There's 9 people in the room, its not so bad." He tried. I heard someone mutter something about Jade, "she can't even hear you."

"Yes she can." Jade said in a singsong voice, glaring at the girl who looked visibly frightened and scooted closer to the person next to her.

"I'll go." I sigh, standing. Mr. Richards smiles at me thankfully and then his glaze flicks toward Jade, a glare on his face, as I walked up to the piano bench. I sat down, found the keys I was looking for and played a quick few notes that were cheery, and then I walked back to my spot on the floor. Jade's glare burned the side of my head, I tried to ignore it.

After me the girl who'd made the comment about Jade got up and played a brief piece, almost as short as mine, not as upbeat. Everyone else followed her lead, cut it short and walked back with their heads ducked. But they didn't need to, I could feel Jade's heavy stare on me the rest of the class. When the bell rang I flew off of the ground and out the door, snatching a paper from Mr. Richards about the headphones and book as I did.

I didn't stop until I was inside the College Algebra classroom, the teacher was an older guy with a few wisps of white hair on his head, major sagging around his eyes and mouth that looked like frown lines and icy blue eyes.

"Name."

"Tori Vega." He glances up at me.

"You better not be a trouble maker like your sister." He comments, "sit there." He points a chair over by the window. I walk to it silently and drop my bag on the floor, tilting my head and resting it on my hand so my face wasn't near the window.

I hardly paid attention as people came into class, until Andre and Beck walked in. Beck sat behind me and Andre in the desk next to mine, directly where I was staring so I wouldn't be facing the window. When he sent me a rather nasty, almost Jade worthy glare, I abruptly turned my head so I was staring down at my desk.

I had fucked up big time, I knew that, but I honestly couldn't get out of that party. I would have if I could have, I might've tried harder if I'd remembered. Andre and Jade needed me to be at their showcase and I let them down. I felt so horrible. I absently made squiggles on my notebook cover, ignoring the teachers lecture about what he expected from us, I let his words flow in one ear and out the other, anything to keep the thoughts of Jade and Andre from my head.

Once that torture was over I headed to the gym, Beck by my side chatting away to fill the silence until Robbie joined us. They were heading to theater while I walked into the gym. The gym was split between Freshman and dumb seniors that had waited until their final year to get this over with. I walked over to the senior area and just tried to blend in and ignore everybody.

"Tori!" Cat practically screamed, rushing over to me and slamming her whole body against mine, I almost fell over, if it hadn't been for the wall behind me. I put one hand on the wall to steady myself and hugged Cat back before she let me go.

"I hope you're not going to greet me like that every time you see me." I joke, she smiles at me and I rub my sore tailbone, trying not to wince too much. I couldn't say why, but my eyes flicked to the gym entrance of their own accord, just as the door opened and Jade walked in. That made a grand total of three classes with her. I hoped this was it. I just had to make it to theater without her, because she'd finished her English classes.

"Seniors over there, Freshman over there!" a woman shouted, Cat squeaked and I jumped, hustling over to where she'd pointed for us to go. Cat and I took a seat far away from Jade who'd perched on the top of the bleachers as soon as she came into the gym.

"Abbot, Hannon, James, Jameson, Smith, Valentine, Vega, West." We each raised our hands to indicate who we were when she called our names, she moved over to the Freshman without an introduction.

She was a scary 6'1, with thick muscled arms and long hair pulled into a ponytail on the back of her head. She had a scowl on her face and a commanding voice. She looked like a wrestler, though she had legs perfect for track. I shook my head; I'd been spending way too much time with Harmony lately.

Harmony, my roommate, was obsessed with two things. Acting and Track. Her obsession with the sport could drive a person insane, but I loved the girl none the less. She was a great friend, one of the first I'd made when I started in the music industry. I'd recorded a track for her movie and met her at the premier. She befriended me because she was only a year older then me, and gave me a place to stay outside of the hotel Sky Records had gotten me after Jade kicked me out. I shoved the thoughts from my mind and stared up at our coach.

"My name is coach Northman. You will address me as Coach Northman, or coach. No miss, no Miss N, no Coach N. Coach Northman or Coach. You will dress out every day in a pair of gym pants or shorts and the Hollywood Arts gym shirt. You will wear tennis shoes, your hair tied back and no jewelry. You will run one lap everyday at the start of gym without stopping and participate in whatever we're doing-if you refuse you may jog the track for the period." She pauses to look us over.

"What a gank.." a girl beside me whispered.

"I don't care if you're a pop star," her gaze hits me, "in a movie," her eyes turn to Jade, "a dancer," her eyes turn to another girl who cowers, "or the President of the United States. You will do what I say, when I say it. Today is your free day, you must be doing something, walk the track, shoot some hoops, play volleyball, I don't care. Be active."

After she walks away four other girls get Cat and I to play volleyball with them, the last guy, Hannon, walks over to Jade and they go shoot hoops not to far away from our game. I keep my mind focused on the ball, making sure not to get hit in the face by a ball or in Cat's path to the ball, which would result in bodily harm I didn't want to deal with. By the end of the period we were all focused on the game that was tied. Everyone was watching us, sweat was rolling down my face and my hair was sticking to it.

Jessica Abbot served the ball over to us, Eli Smith spiked it back, one of the freshman hit it back, and Cat slipped on her way to the ball. I quickly rushed forward as Heather James managed to hit the ball enough for it to fly up in front of me; I jumped and hit it hard enough to go straight down onto the floor between Jessica and the Freshman. As soon as I knew it was done I ran over to Cat.

"Are you okay?" I asked, kneeling beside her.

"We won!" she squealed, holding her knee. She was bleeding, "oh but I hurt my knee."

"Eli, take her to the nurse. Vega go with her, take all of your bags." Coach handed me a pass and I grabbed my purse, Cat's back pack and Eli's notebook and rushed out of the gym after them.

In the nurses office her cut was cleaned out, bandaged up and she was left in the office to be picked up. I dropped her bag beside her, gave her a hug and said goodbye before I rushed off to English. When I got there were about 6 other people in the class, Robbie, Beck, Cat was supposed to be here, Eli, and some people I didn't know. I sat down beside Beck.

"Where's Cat?" Robbie asked, moving over to sit beside us.

"She hurt her knee in gym playing volleyball so the nurse is sending her home." I explained, pulling out my makeup bag and fixing my makeup now that I'd stopped sweating. I ran my fingers through my hair and flattened down some strays before putting my bag back away.

"I don't think I've ever seen you fix your makeup before at school." Beck comments.

"I've never been stalked by paparazzi twenty four seven before, either." I commented, kicking my bag beneath my chair. Beck just looked at me for a moment and then shook his head, "was I being too big headed?"

"No, it's just weird. I'm sitting next to a celebrity and I managed to forget." He chuckles softly.

"Good, keep forgetting. Maybe everyone else will, too." I mumble, Beck pats my thigh in a way that's supposed to be comforting, but it just annoys me. I tune out most of the introduction to the class and ignore most the comments Beck and Robbie say.

After English I got to leave to go to the studio and work on my album. It means I miss lunch, but that's a blessing right now. It turns out, just my luck; Jade got to leave, too. We reached for the door handle at the same time. I pulled my hand away and let her walk in first, following behind her at a safe distance.

She signed out, and then I did and waited five minutes for her to get out the front doors before following her, stopping by my locker that had been left up in my absence and shockingly it was still intact

I dumped the books I'd been given inside and closed it with out looking at anything decorating the inside. Assured that Jade was long gone, I marched out of the school and over to my mustang, crawling inside and speeding over to the studio, happy to escape my thoughts for a few hours.

**And this has been, chapter one!**

**Review; let me know what you think. Next chapter is in Jade's Point of View. I know that's annoying, but that's just how this one ended up coming out. **

**Thanks for reading! **


	2. Chapter 2

**Whatever It Takes**

**Summary: Tori Vega is a good actress, but she's tired of pretending. All she wants is her old life, her old friends, and her girlfriend back. When leaving is hard, coming back can be even harder. Jade West is tired of the pain, tired of feeling sorry for herself, and ready to start fresh. But sometimes you just can't let go of the things you love, even after they've hurt you.**

**Pairing: Jori**

**Rated: M**

**Hope you guys continue to like this, review and let me know what you think or if you have any questions. **

**JPOV**

Chapter 2

_Fucking. Tori. _My vision was clouded by a red haze of anger as I sped home from the movie lot. It was dark now, and had just stopped raining 30 minutes ago, I shouldn't be speeding, but my mind didn't really care. My mind wanted to speed home so I could hit the gym set up in a spare room.

I really just wanted to punch something. Actually I just wanted to punch her. Right in the nose until the bone cracked and blood poured down her face. I hated her. I hated her so much. But a part of me, though small, still liked her. I wanted to rip that small piece to shreds and stomp it into the ground.

When I finally pull into my driveway I have to slam on the breaks, my brother and Jenna are sitting in the driveway, staring at me. James has a horrified expression on his face and Jenna has stepped between him and the front of my car. The fact that the dog stepped in front of him made me smile a bit.

I took a deep breath in and let it out before I shut off the car and stepped out of it, grabbing my bag before slamming the door shut, "are you stupid?" I yelled at him, "get up and get inside. What were you thinking _sitting in the driveway_ _in the dark_?"

He rushes ahead of me with the dog to get the door open, "I was waiting for you to come home."

"In the driveway? Did you want to be run over? You're lucky I saw you." I scold.

"You shouldn't have been speeding." He says with a shrug.

"You shouldn't even be awake. It's 11pm. Up to bed. Now." He goes upstairs and Jenna follows him. I head up to my room and shrug off my jacket, dump my bag on the ground and empty my pockets. Once I'm done I change out of my boots and jeans into a pair of shorts and a sports bra and then a tank top and head down the hall to my brother's room.

He's crawled into his bed and is just waiting. I sit down, tip my chair back against the wall and start singing a random song, trying to keep from singing with an angry tone. He doesn't say anything, just closes his eyes and eventually falls asleep. Jenna and I leave the room; she trots down the stairs to the door ahead of me.

I head over to my dads office and knock on the door nervously, "yes?" he calls.

"Just letting you know I'm home, taking Jenna for a run, now."

"Be safe, let me know when you're home."

"Okay." I call back, walking away before he can say anything else-he probably doesn't though. I hook Jenna's leash on, grab my keys and step out the door, locking it behind myself before taking off at a jog down the sidewalk.

My eyes linger on that abandoned house cellar for a moment and then I turn back to the sidewalk in front of me. The cellar is in my past, and that's where it needs to stay. We jogged for three blocks and then went back, all together totaling six and making today's run 12 blocks, because I ran with her this morning too.

On our way back my usually silent thoughts started to come back. Circling around one topic and spiraling into a few different things, all revolving around Tori Vega. I didn't want her in my head, I didn't want her in my life, and now she was polluting my runs. When we got to the house I headed straight for the kitchen, Jenna following me.

I put cool water in her bowl and grabbed a bottle from the fridge for myself, chugging it greedily as I walked to my dad's office, pausing to hang up Jenna's leash on my way, "I'm home."

"Okay, goodnight Jade." He called.

"Night." I called back, walking past the front door and locking it before following Jenna up the stairs. She went into James' room and I went into mine, pushing the door most of the way shut. I turned my fan up and sat down at my desk, pulling my headphones over my head and hitting play on my pearpod, I turned my computer on and pulled my notebook from my bag, opening to the right page while the computer booted up.

Once it was ready I opened my newest script and started typing up and modifying what I'd written today during school and on set. Once I was finished I found my script for the movie and started to study my lines for the scenes we were shooting tomorrow. Usually Harmony would be on the phone with me so we could run lines with each other but her roommate had just gotten back in town so she wanted to spend some time with her.

With nobody to entertain me and keep my focused my thoughts quickly turned back to Tori. She'd left two months ago to go on tour, but she'd been cut from my life four months ago, I'd had two months to get used to her not being around and suddenly she decided to just come back? It was ridiculous.

I'd had to do a piece for the big show case once my schedule got changed and I could pick an already written song and do a piano cover. Tori had managed to convince me to do a song that meant something to me and swore up and down she'd be there to support me even though she didn't have to participate, since Mr. Anderson had sent her demo album for class to a record label who had scooped her up without hesitation.

The night of the showcase Andre and I stood around waiting for her to show up, we both needed her that night since it was the first time his parents were together listening to his music, Andre at least had Cat to lean on since she'd be performing with him, but I was alone on that stage and my own girlfriend couldn't be bothered to show up.

"_She's gone, Andre." I state, "she's got new friends to make music with, new people to hang out with, she left us. You're up. Good luck." _

"_Hey, West!" a familiar voice called, anger boiled within my stomach, "where's my sister?"_

"_I don't have a fucking clue." I growled at Trina, she took a few nervous steps back and looked sorry she'd even walked near me. I'm sure I looked murderous. I felt murderous. My rock had let me down, and now her stupid sister didn't even know where she was, "I guess fame is more important than everything."_

I'd never really hated a person on the level I'd hated Tori. She betrayed me that day. My performance comes flooding back to me after that, my heart aching the same way it had on that day. It makes me want to rip it out.

_There was silence as I took my seat, leaning forward so my hair fell across my face and I started to play._

"_Hey dad look at me, think back and talk to me, did I grow up according to plan? And do you think I'm wasting my time, doing things I want to do. But it hurts when you disapprove all along." I sigh, I don't want to be here, my heart is hurting when I realize she really wasn't coming and she didn't care._

"_And now I try hard to make it, I just want to make you proud, I'm never gonna be good enough for you, I can't pretend that I'm alright. And you can't change me." I sang with a numb feeling settling over me, that cold feeling that only Vega made fully disappear, "cause we lost it all, nothing lasts forever, I'm sorry I can't be perfect. Now it's just too late and we can't go back, I'm sorry I can't be perfect."_

_I bluff a huge piano piece when I hear my voice crack and try to get myself back under control. Focus, focus, focus, "I try not to think about the pain I feel inside, did you know you used to be my hero? All the days you spent with me, now seem so far away. And it feels like you don't care anymore." The stupid song is starting to remind me more of Tori then my dad and angry tears cascade down my face._

_I sing the rest of the song forcing myself to stay perfect, not to let the tears in my voice come through. As soon as I was done I ran off the stage, past Andre, Cat, Beck and Jen and straight for the girls bathroom. "Get. Out!" I screamed, everyone in there took one look, freaked out, and hauled ass out of the bathroom. I locked myself in the handicapped stall and curled up on a ball in the corner, not caring how disgusting this was._

_It didn't matter in the moment, because I felt like I was going to puke my heart out. I was dry heaving between sobs and my whole body was shaking. She'd promised. She'd swore she'd be here. I stayed curled up in the corner until Cat finally came into the bathroom with Jen and shockingly, Trina, and the three crawled under the stall door. _

_Jen pulled me out of the corner and sat behind me, holding me to her chest. Cat tucked herself next to me and Trina sat with my legs in her lap, rubbing them in a way that actually helped me calm down. Trina drove me home, Jen following behind in Trina's car. They helped me into the house where I went and locked myself in my room, staring at the driveway. _

I'd never been in such a rage before that, I'd never felt so many emotions all at once. Everything was flying around and mixing into an emotion I couldn't identify. Sadness, pain, anger, hurt, agony. Just a big ball of me wanting to hate her forever and to never see her again. I'd waited for her to show up.

_As soon as I saw those headlights I felt angry and sad all over again and I walked down to her room and sat in the center of the bed, legs crossed, arms folded in my lap. A perfect picture of calmness. Tori came bouncing in, pausing when she saw me to look at me confused._

"_What's up?" she asked in a perfectly innocent tone._

"_It's March 23." I replied, "The showcase was tonight. How was your party? Andre and Cat's performance went really good. Andre's parents even stood and clapped and congratulated him before they left." Her face went pale and the smile fell off her lips. She looked horrified, but only for a split second; she covered it up the next with an angry look._

"_I couldn't leave the party-they wouldn't let me." her tone told me that she thought that I couldn't be mad at her for that. Boy was she wrong. Anger lapped at the edges of my patience, waiting to pour out of me like lava and drown her._

"_Oh isn't that a shame. Why didn't you call? Why'd you ignore my calls?" I ask, using the same voice she'd used when she asked me what was up._

"_I don't have to tell you everywhere I go! You're not my father!" she yelled, her hands clenching into fists. I stand up from her bed. I don't tower over her but I'm pissed. She shrinks back like she thought I would hit her. It's like rubbing salt in your wounds. The fact that she could even imagine I'd strike her burns me to the core._

"_No. I'm your girlfriend. And more importantly, I'm the girlfriend you promised to show up and support during the showcase. And guess what? Now I'm the girlfriend you used to be dating and living with. Get all your shit out of my fucking house and leave your key on the fucking table." I storm out of her room, slam my door shut, lock it and crawl out onto the roof and into the tree, climbing up high enough that nobody would see me, and she wouldn't dare follow._

She left an hour later with the small bag of her things, probably to go to some fancy hotel she was given by her record label. I didn't know and I didn't care. When I finally drift back into reality I find I've chewed the skin on my thumb enough that it's now bleeding. I put my thumb in my mouth without hesitation and head into the bathroom to shower so my hands have something to do that's not becoming victim to my gnawing teeth.

After my shower I wrapped in a thin robe and sat down on my bed, staring out the window up at the starry night sky. At the foot of my bed sat a red dog with a black patch over its eye stared up at me with those huge fake eyes and an almost smile stitched onto his face.

I pick it up in one hand and stare at, taking in the plastic eyes, and the small stitching underneath the left eye where Jenna chewed a hole in it, and then I crush it to my chest and burry my face in it as tears pour from my eyes and sobs shake through my body.

I might not have ever told Vega, or anyone really, but I was really starting to fall in love with her before she abandoned me, and I was okay when she wasn't here, but now I had to see in three classes everyday. I was going to die before I could get away from her, wasn't I?

She would always haunt me, her voice on the radio, her videos on the TV, her pictures in all the magazines. Her name was on everyone's lips. The girl was a sensation; everyone loved the charming girl with the big brown doe eyes and perfect cheekbones. Everyone but me.

I hated her.

I hate her.

I hate Tori Vega.

I can say it to myself a thousand times; it'll never make it true. I want to hate Tori Vega, but I will never really hate her, some piece of my heart clung to the Tori who didn't betray me, the part of her that didn't have all that fame filling her head.

I collapsed on my bed with my face still buried in Abu and passed out like that, the hot summer air drifting in through my window, the light still on, in my thin robe with wet hair and a tendency to get sick from that.

Sadly, I woke up the next morning completely fine except for some puffy eyes and seriously screwed up hair. No matter how much I used my curler I couldn't get the front to curl in a good way. I give up and straighten it before hurriedly pulling on a pair of jeans and a top. I grab my leather jacket, my bag, and my laptop bag on my way out and sprint down the stairs.

My dad put a thermos of coffee on the table for me, "I can't take Jenna out today. Sorry." I say as I grab the coffee and rush out the front door and down to my car. I toss my bag in the passenger seat, drag the door shut, and pull on my seatbelt and starting the car, speed out of the drive way.

I made it to my locker and into class behind Andre just as the bell rang. Andre gave my hair a pointed look and raised an eyebrow at me. I shrugged my shoulders in response, digging around in my bag for my eyeliner and my mirror while we waited for Sikowitz to make his grand appearance.

"Are you sure you should be doing that? Sikowitz is going to target you."

"Yeah, I'm fine." I reply, running my finger under my eye and wiping away the smudged black beneath them from my eyes watering on my way here when Vega's stupid song came on the radio. I fixed up my eyeliner and rechecked it in the mirror. That was when I spotted Sikowitz behind me, "you Sikowitz is the dumbest teacher here, we never learn anything and I looked like a big idiot my first day on the set."

"Jade-." Andre tried to warn.

"No, seriously, he's stupid." I close my mirror and put it in my bag; I spun grabbing the back of my chair and looked him dead in the eye, "coconuts are not a good gift."

"They give me visions." Sikowitz replies, a few people jump when they realize Sikowitz had entered the class. Sikowitz gets up and walks up to the stage, sitting down on a crate that was sitting in the middle of it, he just looks around, "you're all so boring today." He announces.

His eyes flicker between Tori and I and then over to Andre, "okay fine. You can just do whatever you want." I pull out my laptop after he says that and plunk down in a chair near the back, putting my boots up on another chair. Andre follows me and we hook up his headphones while I scroll through my playlist of movies and start a Ted Bundy movie.

I look away from the screen during the opening titles and I see Tori, Beck, Cat and Robbie in a circle around Cat's laptop and the randomers are all talking. I turn back to my computer. We don't get to finish the movie before I have to go to keyboard.

I walk in and grunt when Richard's says hello, I just walk straight to a keyboard and plug in my headphones to start playing while he tests everyone's music reading ability. He started with Tori to get her out of the way, handed her a paper with a song on it and directed her to a piano. She took the one next to me, purposely looking away from me and staring pointedly at her music sheet for Jingle Bells.

I turned my eyes back to my music sheet and started playing as a girl took a seat to my left at the other piano and sat as far away from me as possible. I rolled my eyes at that, was I really that scary? Maybe I was.

Eventually that class ended and my class started, and then it ended I went to gym with my boots dragging. I head into the locker room and Coach Northman hands me a paper with a locker number and a combination on it. I head to the back where the locker is, open it and shove my bag inside.

I glance around and see Cat standing three lockers to my left watching me, "what is wrong with you, Cat?"

"Nothing, Tori has my gym shirt in her bag and she's late." Cat replies, turning away from me, she sits down on the bench between the lockers and starts to put on her shoes. I yank my boots off and toss them in the bottom of the locker, grab my shorts, shirt and shoes from my bag and set them on the bench.

I peel my jeans off, fold them up and set them on my bag, pull my shorts on and peel my jacket off. I can still feel Cat staring at me. I hang my jacket on a hook and turn to look at her.

She's sitting on the bench tapping her feet soundlessly through the air, her long red hair tied into a loose ponytail at the base of her neck, and her bottom lip caught between her nibbling teeth, "what's wrong?" I ask, leaning against the locker beside mine.

"It's just that I wanted this year to be great, and not weird like the end of last year with everyone all not talking and now you wont even talk to me, and neither will Andre and if I even say her name you cringe and get all upset." Cat says in a babyish voice that actually makes me feel a little guilty.

"Sorry Cat." I say and turn to my locker, yanking my shirt off and picking the shirt on the bench up, "but I'll try to talk to you more, if that would make you feel better, but her-that's just not going to happen." I pull my shirt down over my head and grab a hair tie from the depths of my backpack.

"But you're an actress! Can't you just act like things are normal?" Cat complains, "one time my brot-."

"No." I cut her off rudely. If you saw her face you might have thought I had just slapped her, "I can't Cat, she picked her fame over me, and I am not going to forgive her for that, I'm sorry." I slam my locker closed and close the lock, walking over to her; I set my hand on her shoulder and gave it a soft squeeze, silently pleading with her to understand.

"Okay." She whispers.

"But maybe once in awhile I can sit with you guys at lunch for a little bit, and I'll text you more, okay?" I reason, feeling a lot guiltier than I thought I would. She had been my best friend since 6th grade and it was wrong not to talk to her.

"Okay." She says her face lights up and she bounces to her feet, hugging me quickly before turning her eyes somewhere over my shoulder, "do you have my shirt?"

"Yeah, here." Tori says, I hear her boots click on the tile and feel her behind me; she tosses Cat her shirt and the red head moves away to change. I step across the small bench and walk past Tori without looking at her and out of the locker room.

I find Adam Hannon standing by the bleachers looking really agitated, he glances at me when I walk over to him but doesn't say anything. I don't ask what's wrong; instead I just sit down and pick at my nails.

Coach Northman eventually comes out, calls all of our names and sends us outside to run a lap around the track, "If you don't run the whole thing I'll make you run it again, and if you don't run that, you'll go again until you run the whole thing."

As soon as my shoes hit the track I started to jog, Adam followed me slowly, and eventually Cat caught up with us, grinning at me, "hey Cat." I greet.

"Hey, they're all slow, so I figured I'd jog with you if that's okay."

"Sure." I reply, giving her the most real, fake smile I can muster. I honestly want to be left alone, but I don't really want to upset her again. Stupid guilt. Eventually Adam falls back to run with some of the other guys and Cat and I jog a little faster while she tells me about this short film she's going to be in for someone's student project and how they need other people to be in it.

"That sounds really fun." I tell her. They're doing the original version of the Little Mermaid where she has to kill him to stay human, "how are they going to do the underwater without it being really cheesy?"

"They haven't worked it out yet, they're hoping to do some scenes at a beach and use an underwater camera to film the underwater parts and voice over or something." Cat answers, "I just want to have a tail it sounds so fun!"

As we reach where we started Cat and I slow our jogging down so we can stop, "Do you two run a lot?" Coach Northman asks, I raise my studded eyebrow in silent question and craned my neck to look back; most people hadn't even made it around the first goal post, while Cat and I made it back around the second.

"I run with my dog all the time." I reply.

"I used to be on track." Cat told her happily, "but I don't have much free time anymore so I can't do it. One time my brother joined the track team but he fell during a practice and cut down his whole leg on a rock and bled everywhere. My mom made him quit."

Coach Northman looked at her like she had two heads and I had a hard time not laughing, her brother was a nut job. When the rest of the class finally caught up Coach told us that we were going to be playing basketball outside, rolled out the trash can full of them, and pointed to the courts.

I grabbed a basket ball and walked with Adam to the courts without a word and picked the hoop farthest away from the entrance so people would leave me alone and dribbled the ball around, throwing it at the hoop a few times without really trying, because I was horrible at basketball, and mentally ran over my lines in my head.

Coach gave us fifteen minutes to change, get freshened up and such before class ended, so I was happily sweat free, re-perfumed and back in my jeans in no time, happy to be out of the blazing sun. I shouldered my bag, slammed my locker door shut and once more stepped over the bench and passed by Vega without looking at her.

I tuned out the movie we were watching in Script and counted down the minutes to sweet freedom. As soon as I was done with this class I sprinted to my locker, dumped my books and headed up to the office to sign myself out and go to the set. From the sign in sheet names, I beat Vega to the office, and made it out before she showed up.

I marched across the parking lot and unlocked my car, tossing my bag into the back and peeling my jacket off and tossing it inside the backseat before crawling in, starting it and turning on the AC to kill the sweltering heat. As soon as it cools off I pull out of my space and drive away.


	3. Chapter 3

**Whatever It Takes**

**Summary: Tori Vega is a good actress, but she's tired of pretending. All she wants is her old life, her old friends, and her girlfriend back. When leaving is hard, coming back can be even harder. Jade West is tired of the pain, tired of feeling sorry for herself, and ready to start fresh. But sometimes you just can't let go of the things you love, even after they've hurt you.**

**Pairing: Jori**

**Rated: M**

TPOV

Chapter 3

I watch Jade pull away from the school in a rush staring after her car speeding down the road. I scan the parking lot; it's empty of people, filled with cars. I push the door open and run out to my car, diving into the driver's seat and throwing my books into the passenger seat. I turn on the car, turn on the AC and wait for it to cool off, pulling my seat belt on while I wait as my eyes scanning the parking lot for anyone-even though the security here was pretty good you just never know.

Once it's cooled down I pull out of my space and head over to the record label. Inside a mess of people run around like their heads had been chopped off. I give a small smile to the receptionist as I pass by to the elevator. I ride up to the 10th floor and head to my habitual booth, J13.

Inside it has a nice warm feeling; the walls are dark red, the furniture black leather and dark wood. I sink into one of the leather chairs and drop my bag on the ground with a heavy sigh. Will, my producer, turns and looks at me over his shoulder and then shakes his head.

"Two days of school and you already look ready to crawl in bed for a month." Will turns back to whatever he is doing with the song he's listening to, and I stare into the sound booth longingly, "Go warm up." He demands. I grin and hop out of my chair, skipping into the sound booth.

"See you tomorrow Will." I call, reaching down and opening my cars door. I toss my bag into the passenger seat and glance into the empty backseat before slipping into the driver's seat.

"Bye, Tor." He calls back, swinging a leg over his motorcycle. I started my car and waited for Will to leave before I backed out of my space and sped home, eager to shower and pass out on my bed. Harmony was still at work when I got home, so I locked the door and ran toward the bathroom, happy to know I still had some hot water.

I dumped my bag in my room, kicked off my shoes and double checked that my curtains and blinds were over the window before heading into the bathroom. I turned the water on and took off my jacket, shirt and jeans, tossing them into my purple hamper as I felt the heat from the shower curling through the bathroom. I tied my hair up, pulled of my bra and underwear, tossing them into the hamper as well.

Inside the shower I stood under the hot water, enjoying the way it burned my skin and gave me light red patches everywhere. I felt the dirt and sweat from the day washing away. I watched going down the drain, feeling my eyes struggle to stay open. The tension from my shoulders slowly ebbed away and I let myself relax for the first time all day.

After leisurely scrubbing down my skin with vanilla body wash and rinsing it off with the scalding water, I turned it over to cold, untied my hair and rinsed the water through it, blindly groping the shower walls for my shampoo. I dumped it into my hair and scrubbed it into my scalp, rinsing and then grabbing my conditioner, I let that soak in and wash and rinse my face, then rinse the conditioner and step out, wrapping a large purple bath sheet around me and grabbed a second towel to dry my arms and legs, and then dry the ends of my hair.

I unlocked the bathroom door and walked across the hall into my room. I changed into some clean pajamas and sunk down in my desk chair, turning to see my bag still sitting by the door. With a scowl on my face I pushed my chair across the room, picked the bag up and shoved myself back toward the desk. When I couldn't keep my eyes open to work on my homework anymore I gave up and crawled into my bed.

Around 2 am my phone started ringing, the loud obnoxious tone made me want to slam my head into a wall, I dumped my whole bag out to try and find it, when I finally grab it I answer without looking at the caller ID, "Hello?"

"Ria! Thank god!" Harmony screamed in my ear, I winced, "I need help! My car died! Can you come jump me? I was giving my friend a ride home because she had to drop her car at the shop."

I close my eyes and open them again, "I'll be there in like twenty minutes." I grumble, standing up from the floor and yawning loudly, stretching one arm over my head until my back cracked.

"I woke you up…." Harmony said sounding sad, "I'm sorry I ca-."

"I'll be there in twenty minutes, Harm." I cut her off. She gives me the address, and I hang up, the girl already woke me up so I might as well go help her out. I pulled my Hollywood Arts sweater on over my head, shoved my feet into some flip flops and wandered into the kitchen where I grabbed my keys and wallet. Before opening the door I tied my hair up, pulled the hood up over my head and took a deep breath before stepping out the door.

Thankfully it was dark outside and nobody seemed to be around. I locked the door, walked to the stairs and jogged down them, down the sidewalk and over to my car, checking the trunk for my jumper cables before I get into the drivers seat and start the car.

The place she broke down was a good thirty minutes away, so I let the AC cool the car down and plugged my phone into the car so I could listen to music. Once that's done I buckle up and back out of my spot, drive to the gate and punch the stupid gate code in before I pull through the gates and head down the road.

I drove letting the music become background noise while I watch the road ahead of me, but still I found myself singing along to the song playing through my car, "All I know is I'm lost without you, I'm not gonna lie. How am I going to be strong without you? I need you by side."

Thoughts of a blue-green eyed girl drifted through my mind and the lingering sadness took hold of me once more as it had on and off when something reminded me of Jade. The song changed soon, but that song didn't make the sadness go away. It got worse.

"Reaching for the phone 'cause I can't fight it anymore. And I wonder if I ever cross your mind. For me it happens all the time. Its quarter after one I'm all alone and I need you now. Said I wouldn't call, but I lost all control and I need you know. And I don't know how I can do without. I just need you now."

I sigh and roll to stop at a red light, resting one arm on the window and my head on that head, "Guess I'd rather hurt than feel nothing at all. It's a quarter after one I'm all alone and I need you now. And I said I wouldn't call but I'm a little drunk and I need you now. And I don't know how I can do without I just need you now."

When the light turned green someone had to honk at me before I went because I was busy try not to think about Jade, but now I needed to focus on finding Harmony, she had to be around here somewhere. I kept my eyes peeled for her beat up dodge neon, and found her pulled over in a closed down stores parking lot sitting on her trunk with another person.

I pulled my car up in front of hers and shut it off; Harmony was at my door before I could even get out and hugging me the second I stepped out, apologizing for waking me up about six times before I managed to shut her up, "now is the car actually dead?"

"It didn't turn on…" she mumbles, "but she says the batteries not dead."

I glance over at the figure standing by her car door and meet a set of angry blue-green eyes, "what happened when you tried to start it?" I drag my eyes back to Harmony

"Nothing, no lights, not clicking nothing." she replied. I roll my eyes at her, "what?"

"Car battery's probably not dead." I reply, "let me see your keys." She hands them over and I walk around to her car door, turn the key and nothing happens. I turn on her headlights and the front of my car lights up. I quickly turn them back off and get out of the car.

"So now what?"

"Call and get it towed." I reply, tossing the keys to her, "and I'll drive her home and then we can go home." She calls her mechanic-who is apparently a close friend of hers, and he promises to send a tow in the morning and tells her to come by in the morning.

I unlock the doors to my car and slide into the driver's seat without acknowledging Jade's presence in the backseat, Harmony gets inside-still on the phone with her mechanic. I pull out of the parking lot and head towards Jade's place which is only a 10 minute drive from here.

When Harmony is finally off the phone we're about five minutes from Jade's place, and she looks between us, "how do you know where she lives Ria?"

"I go to school with her." I reply, rolling to a stop at a red light.

"That doesn't really explain anything." Harmony replies, turning to Jade for an explanation.

"Why do you call her Ria?" Jade avoids answering.

"Because they misprinted her name on a script as 'Toria'. Why does she know where you live?" Jade simply shrugs, so Harmony turns back in her seat, I catch Jade's gaze in my rearview mirror, she's glaring at me.

When I pull up outside of her house Jade jumps out of the car, "Don't bothering thanking me!" I yell after her, she doesn't even turn around or acknowledge me. My earlier sadness is now replaced with anger. She is such a bitch sometimes.

"She's just in a bad mood. I'm sorry." Harmony says.

"Yeah, she's always in a bad mood." I mutter. Pulling into Jade's driveway and backing out onto the road.

"Wait!" Harmony yelps, spinning into the backseat, "she left her bag. I'll just be a minute." And she's out of the car before I can stop her. I pull back into Jade's driveway to get out of the road and put it in park, drumming my fingers on the steering wheel. The porch lights flick on and the gold of my charm bracelet catches it the light. I twist it around my wrist and play with the half heart that says little sister on it.

Trina had given it to me last Christmas as a half birthday-half Christmas gift. I hadn't really taken it off since. I glance at the front door. Jade's dad was standing there in a pair of pajama pants with a tired look on his face.

Harmony looked like she was apologizing profusely, and I felt really bad, but then Jade stomped past him, snatched her bag and stormed back upstairs. Harmony was still standing there; I rolled down my window, "Harm! I know you're sorry for waking him up but I have school in the morning!"

"Sorry!" she called back, and then quickly apologized again while I rolled my window up and then she came running to the car, "sorry he was waiting for Jade and I had to explain to him what happened."

"It's fine." I mumble, putting it in reverse and speeding out of the driveway. By the time we get home it's four am, so I fix my hair, finish my homework and start making breakfast around five so I can leave at 5:30. I stop at Jetbrew to get the biggest cup of coffee they sell and then head to school, I pull in at 6:30 and the parking lot is almost half full. I pull into a spot, grab my bags, my coffee and my phone.

Juggling my keys and phone I manage to lock the car and drop the keys into my bag before I make it up to the door. Someone opens the door and holds it open for me, "thank you." I say, busy looking in my bag for my mirror and watching in front of me. I make it to my locker and just drop my bag on the floor, mirror now forgotten, spin open the combination and set the cup on a rack inside, pulling out my text books and notebooks and setting them inside since I don't need anything for Sikowitz's class anyways.

I push my locker door closed, only to realize my cup of coffee is still inside. This was going to be a long day. I quickly spun the combination in and pulled my coffee cup back out, slamming the locker closed once again before I picked up my bag and dumped it on the floor, everything spilling.

"I'm done." I announce, nobody is really around, so it doesn't matter. I kneel on the floor and pick everything up, shoving my makeup messily back into my bag with random papers, my piano book and my song book. I hook the bag over my shoulder and stand up, grabbing my coffee from the ground and slowly spinning around so I don't walk into someone, and then I march straight to Sikowitz's class so I don't embarrass myself anymore.

He's not in the classroom, but Robbie and Beck are, so I sit down beside them and take three large gulps of my coffee, close my eyes and just sit there enjoying the silence for a few minutes.

"You look like hell." Beck comments, I crack one eye open and give him a sour look before closing my eye again and taking two more gulps of coffee.

"My roommate's car broke down and I had to go get her and take her co-star, the always sweet, lovely and kind Jade West, home. And then by the time we got back to the apartment it was four so I didn't even bother trying to sleep. And I'm not having a good day."

"I can tell." Beck chuckles, I open my eyes and give him a confused looked.

"You only have eyeliner on one eye." I groan and put my coffee cup on the ground, digging through my bag I find my mirror and eyeliner and fix my makeup. I throw the eyeliner back into my bag with the mirror when I'm done and pull out my phone, checking my twitter.

Three messages from friends, Will included, direct me to a website that was talking about my late night run to rescue my two girlfriends. I laugh at the article and the few pictures of me in my shorts in over sized hoodie and the picture of Harmony hugging me along with a picture I didn't know was taken of Jade staring at me-but she wasn't glaring in this picture. Interesting. I downloaded the picture to my phone along with the one of Harmony. I send that one to her along with the link because I know she'll find it funny.

I put my phone back into my purse and run my hands across my jeans to warm them up, I don't really know what posses me to do so, they're not cold. I pick up my coffee and take a sip. Class starts and Jade hasn't shown up, Andre is sitting alone in the back nearly asleep in his chair.

"Good afternoon class!"

"Sikowitz, its 7 am." Andre grumbles.

"Well then, good morning!" he yodels. I wince and force myself to take three long swigs of the coffee and shake myself awake, "today we'll be pairing up for a project! You will write out a scene for another team to perform and perform another scene from someone else's pairing. Here's the hat so I don't hear any complaints. Pick carefully."

I grasp my partner from the hat as well as Beck and Cat. He skips over Robbie and Andre, which meant their names were in the hat, as well as the absentee. I stare nervously at the slip between my fingers. I open it with a shaking hand and groan when I see her name scrawled across the paper in Sikowitz's crappy handwriting.

"Got Jade?" Beck asked, I nod with a pout on my face, "I'm so done with this day and it's only first period. Can I just go home now?"

"You might as well; you're basically useless as you are." Beck laughed. I frowned at him, stuck around for the details of the assignment. When the bell rang I went to my locker and packed up my things. Andre was at his locker when I walked passed; I stopped hesitantly and then cleared my throat.

"What?" he asks. I wince at the tone of his voice; he's never treated me like that, ever.

"Tell Jade I'm her partner, please and thank you, and ask her to call Harmony to get my number." I walk away before he argues. When I get home Harmony is gone which means I get to sleep in silence. I toss my bag by my bedroom door, pull the thick black curtains over my window and collapse into my bed.

"Ria!" something hits my head, thankfully its soft. I toss the item, a pillow, away and sit up, "Jade's on the phone. Here." She hands me her pearphone and walks out.

"Hello?" I groan into the phone, rolling onto my back.

"What's our project and how much 'working together' is required?" she demanded. I squeezed my eyes shut and blinked them open, looking around for my clock.

"We have to write a script and turn it in. Sikowitz will then hand us someone else's script and we'll have to practice that." it's almost 3, "Shit." I scrambled out of my bed and stuff my feet into my shoes, grabbing my keys from my dresser.

"Well I'm working tonight." Jade comments, her tone reminds me of someone on the phone while filing their nails. If she were, she'd be filing them into talons, I'd guess. I shake my head, when did I start thinking of Jade like that?

"So am I. We can work on it tomorrow or something, I don't know. I'm sorry. I'm late. Harmony! Why the hell did you let me sleep? Here's your phone." I throw it at her and rush out the door, down the stairs and over to my car, scrambling to unlock it and start the car. Luckily I stupidly left my phone in the car so I text Will that I'm on my way.

I stop at the coffee shop and get four cups of coffee before I make it to the studio. I head straight for the elevator and sprint down the hall to our recording booth. Will is sitting inside, staring at the door with his arms crossed over his chest.

"Coffee." I shove it at him and take one for myself, "I had a long night and passed out and left my phone in the car. I'm sorry." He shrugged and held out his hand for my lyric book. I passed it to him and sat down so we could pick apart my lyrics and music. After picking apart three songs he sent me into the recording booth to lay down my lyrics until 6pm when our band auditions were, since my last band got their own record deal-and I don't blame them. No rock-and-roll guys want to be backing an 18 year old popstar.

I was half asleep in my chair in no time. We'd been watching bands auditions for hours, but none of them were right. They were either too good to be backing me, too old to want to (believe it or not some actually walked out when they saw me), and some just plain sucked. Will was slouched in his seat with his elbow on the arm rest and his face in his hand, all wrinkled up, it was a wonder he could see what he was writing.

"Stop! Stop!" He slammed his hand on the speaker button, "we'll call you, and send in the next band, please."

The guys all looked disappointed as they trudged out; I was ready for this to be done with. The next band that walked in was a mix of girls and a guy. One had long blonde hair, one long red hair and the guy short black hair. They were called Tomorrow May Change, "set up in there and start when you're ready." Will instructed. They didn't hesitate to file into the sound booth.

"I don't see why this can't wait until I go back on tour." I grumbled.

"You're the one who wanted a band you could have months to practice with." Will answers without hesitation. I scowl at him and then look over to the band getting ready to play; "besides this is the last audition anyways."

I toy with my empty coffee cup while they start to warm up, only to drop it when they begin to play one of my songs. First, because they didn't know who they were auditioning for when they got here, so either they knew my music already or someone told them on their way out and they found a song to learn. Second, because if it was that second reason, then _damn _I wanted them as my back up band.

"I think we found your band." Will said, blinking slowly as the band stared out the glass at us. I grinned at them and looked over at Will nodding happily. Will went to tell them the good news because I was too busy doing a happy dance in my chair. They cheered happily, stopping mid pack-up to hug thank Will a lot.

"Thank you so much!" The blonde girl gushed; she held a guitar case in her hand and had a huge grin on her face, "this means the world to us."

"I'm happy to have such talented people to work with; you guys did an amazing job. I'm Tori." I held my hand out to her.

"I'm Crystal, she's Anastasia, and he's Blake." Crystal shakes my hand enthusiastically and so does Anastasia. Blake is a lot more reserved, but shakes my hand with a firm grip and mutters gruff thanks. On my way out I tell them when to come back to sign the contract and what not, and then I sprint to my car to go home. When I got to the apartment Harmony was gone and I got to shower and crawl into my bed without having to listen to her babble on and on like she frequently did, I was asleep in no time.

**Two updates in one day, go me! Hope you enjoy the chapter! **


	4. Chapter 4

**Whatever It Takes**

**Summary: Tori Vega is a good actress, but she's tired of pretending. All she wants is her old life, her old friends, and her girlfriend back. When leaving is hard, coming back can be even harder. Jade West is tired of the pain, tired of feeling sorry for herself, and ready to start fresh. But sometimes you just can't let go of the things you love, even after they've hurt you.**

**Pairing: Jori**

**Rated: M**

"I just want to get drunk." I mumble, "get drunk and pretend I forgot I have to do this." Andre chuckles over the phone while I throw my bag across the room; it hits the edge of my bed and tumbles back to the ground.

"I know she's not your favorite person, but it's just writing so go over there, do your writing and leave." Andre advises, I glare at the phone as if he can see it and kick my shoes across the room, "got to go Jade, partners here. Chin up." He hung up before I could complain anymore, and I sighed. I wasn't looking forward to my afternoon at Tori's apartment running lines, but being here would be too much for either of us to handle.

I pulled my hair down from the ponytail it had been in while I was running as I walked into the bathroom, averting my gaze from the door down the hall where Tori lived just months ago. I kicked the door shut and started the shower, hoping the hot water and steam would help calm me down before I walked straight into Hell.

I stripped down, tossing my clothing into the purple hamper beside the blue one, and then I stepped into the shower, standing under the stream and running my fingers through my hair until it was soaked down to the scalp. I scrubbed shampoo into my hair, rinsed it out and repeated with the conditioner, rushing through washing my skin.

The shower was not a good idea, I did too much thinking in their, and right now a certain Latina was plaguing my thoughts. She still made my heart jump in my chest and caused that weird fluttering sensation fill my stomach. I slumped down to the bottom of the tub, pulling my knees up to my chest. The water slammed down on the bed until the sound became white noise.

I can't believe that someone could just walk out on someone like that, drop them all for fame, not just because she had to leave for the record deal but because her new friends seemed to be cooler than us. I bit down on the inside of my cheek until I felt like I wasn't about to cry and then decided that I needed to get up. I pushed myself out of the bottom of the tub, rinsed one more time and shut the water off, grabbing my towel and putting it around my body. I dried my feet off on the rug and put a comb through my hair before I got out of the bathroom.

"What were you doing in there for so long?" I almost screamed when James spoke, he was sitting by the staircase railing looking up at me, his legs were crossed tightly. I was really off my game, usually nobody could sneak up on me like that, not even the dog.

"I got into a lot of dirt on my run, sorry." I mumble, he accepts the answer and rushes into the bathroom while I go into my room, kicking the door closed behind me. I pull the curtains over my window before I dry off my body and my hair, I drag on some underwear and a bra. Once my hair stops dripping down my back I put on a tank top and a pair of jeans, fix my hair and grab my bag and leather jacket before heading out to my car.

"I'm going to my partners place for a project, I'll be back before midnight!" I call, I hear my brother shout something that sounds like 'yeah right' and my dad yells and okay before I make it out the door and jog down the steps to my car.

Vega's apartment complex isn't what I expected two people who made the money they do to live in. It's simple and plain, and each building has two floors and 8 apartments. The stairs between the two sides were tight and outside. Hers faced the parking lot, number 129. I knocked on the door and buried my hands in my pockets.

"You're late." Vega informed me, pushing open the door the rest of the way and letting me in. They had a huge brown couch in the center of their living room in front of a small TV and a tiny glass table between them. Behind that was a desk full of papers, stacks that looked like scripts, song books, CD's, pictures of each other them. That was all to my left.

To the right were two mirrored doors, one propped open with food inside, a larger glass table with white leather rolling chairs and the kitchen which looked hardly big enough for one person. There was bar connected to it where more papers and CD's were scattered and three bar stools, there was a huge fish tank separating the kitchen and living room, but it was empty.

"We can sit at the kitchen table and work on this, I guess." Tori mumbles, "let me go get the notes from my bag…" she doesn't bother looking at me as she shut the door and went down a short hallway into a room on the left. She came back out a minute later with her bag slung over her shoulder.

She was in a pair or black sweatpants and a white tank top, her hair was wet and she had no makeup on. I forced myself to quit staring at her and turned to the glass table, drumming my fingers absently while tapping my foot. She dropped a sheet in front of me; I picked them up and flipped through them.

"So we have to write a script about friends who were fighting over a boy." I frown, and then I just start laughing. I don't know why I start laughing, but I do and when I look up Tori's smiling and trying not to laugh and its just so normal and completely not okay. I stop laughing almost instantly, the smile vanishes from her face and she looks down at her hands.

"I'll get some paper out and start writing down ideas." She mumbles, grabbing a pen and paper from her bag. She writes down ideas, I write down ideas, we continue this through the night hour and a half, and then we act them out in monotone, with feeling, standing up going through the motions. We decide the girls stop being friends after the argument. It's more of a silent agreement between us that we don't talk about.

It's nearly 11 by the time we're done, Tori prints the script and hands me a copy, so both of us have one in case the other is late or something. I pack up my bag and stand, pulling my leather jacket off of the back of the chair and shrugging it onto my shoulders. Tori gets up and walks over to the door, holding it open for me, "see you later Jade." She says, looking at the ground.

Part of me feels guilty for the sadness in her voice, the other part thinks she deserves the guilt she feels. I'm so conflicted, but the nasty part of me agrees that she deserves it and I stomp out the door with a grunt, glancing around outside for anyone with a camera before fully stepping out the door.

I dart downstairs and over to my car, starting the car and backing out of my space. I drove from her apartment over to Jetbrew to get a coffee and then to my house. I slip inside silently and head up to the sound proof room, shutting and locking the door behind me. I drink half of the coffee and then find my hidden stash of alcohol grabbing a bottle of nearly empty Smirnoff. I slump into a bean bag and uncap the bottle.

I take a swig from it, wincing as it burns the back of my throat before settling in my stomach. I flip through channels until I find something relatively interesting to watch, Xena, and drink another half of the bottle. Inside my pocket my phone started vibrating like crazy and I could hear the ring tone I had set for Andre trying to beat out the sound of the sword fight between Xena and Ares.

I fished the phone out and pressed it to my ear, "hey." I mumbled.

"Please tell me you got laid and that's why you sound happy." Andre said over the phone. I chuckled and he groaned, "getting drunk?"

"I was conflicted. Drinking helps me become unconflicted. Come over and join me." I giggled, my face scrunched up in confusion, I didn't _giggle. _Jade West doesn't giggle.

"No way in hell. Go to bed, West." Andre orders like a protective parent.

"Every party needs a pooper that's why we invited you." I teased, stretching out, "come on it'll be fun."

"Goodnight, Jade." Andre said and hung up, I frowned and tossed my phone aside, it skittered across the floor, bouncing like a rock skipping water, over the carpet. I take a final swig of the vodka and toss the bottle gently aside. I pulled out my half empty bottle of whiskey. I peeled off my jacket and tossed it aside, my shoes followed along with my socks and I sat down to watch the next two episodes. When they ended some annoying show about bitchy girls came on the TV so I put on a music station, finished my vodka and curled up in the bean bag I was laying in. Fucking Tori Vega.

Nothing I tried could stop me from loving her, liking her, wanting to just grab her and kiss her. Not even the sting of betrayal. She was Tori and she was sugar and spice and everything nice. Everything I'm not. I felt free and relaxed and just myself around her. she made me happy, even. Something nobody was easily able to make me do, not even Beck for as long as we dated.

But even he didn't manage to hurt me the way Tori did, I guess since I knew that relationship was over I didn't have to worry about feeling hurt. But Tori left abruptly. I spun the bottle around in my hand, taking a small swig once more before open my eyes and stretching out across the floor and slipping from the bean bag onto the floor. I just wanted to crawl into bed and hold Tori next to me

"Another shot of whiskey, can't stop looking at the door. Wishing you'd come sweeping in the way you did before. And I wonder if I ever cross your mind? For me it happens all the time." Stupid fucking song. I take a swig of whiskey, "It's a quarter after one, I'm a little drunk and I need you now. Said I wouldn't call but I've lost all control and I need you now. And I don't know how I can do without. I just need you now."

I set the bottle down and recap it, crawling across the floor lying on my stomach while I pick up my phone and scroll through my contacts, "Vega there you are…" I tap the call button, but it goes straight to voice mail, "It's a quarter after one, I'm all alone and I need you now. And I said I wouldn't call but I'm a little drunk and I need you now. Well I don't know how I can do without. I just need you now, I just need you now. Oh baby I need you now. God I fucking hate you Tori, I hate you so much."

Tears burn my eyes and I hang up, setting the phone down, tears starting to roll down my cheeks. I press my forehead against my hands, my nose stuffed up and I rolled onto my side curling up, "hate you hate you hate you. Hate you so much." I mumbled closing my eyes. I felt so useless, I was Jade West. I didn't curl up into a ball and cry over a relationship that ended. But tonight I guess I wasn't really myself, because here I was, curled up in a ball hugging my phone crying over Tori fucking Vega.

Eventually I dragged myself back to my room, slid out of my jeans and my shirt, and crawled into bed, curling around my pillow and crying to sleep before grabbing my stuffed dog and curling around it before I finally managed to fall asleep. I was awake again at three am. With a loud sigh I got out of bed at three thirty feeling oddly refreshed. I felt good today, like I wanted to look nice.

So I sat down and straightened my hair, made sure it was nice and perfectly straight and then started working on my makeup. I dug around my closet trying to find something to wear and gave up trying to find something in my room and went into the extra room with clothing pouring out of it. I found a nice mesh dress and a mesh shirt to put over it with a pair of stockings to put under them and the shoes I got from my dad last Christmas. While I got dressed I charged my phone that I'd abandoned to die last night, and I waited until it was done to hook my necklace on my neck, rolling the gem between my fingers with a pathetic smile on my face.

"You're truly amazing with a talent so bright. Your beauty is dazzling as a firework's light. That is so cheesy." I sigh; dropping the necklace against my chest I moved away from my dresser, grabbed my phone and left the house around 4. I stopped a Jetbrew and got a coffee and a coconut from the stand outside before heading to Hollywood Arts.

I took my usual spot, locked up my car and headed to Sikowitz's window; I only had to knock once before Sikowitz opened the window, "why do you always sleep here?" I mumble, stepping into the room and handing him a coconut.

"My mother is terrifying." Sikowitz retorts, "the keys." He says, handing me the Black Box theater keys. I nod in thanks and head over to the Black Box, setting my bag and coffee on the floor beside the piano. I started playing whatever came to mind from classical to covers of songs I'd learned during my free time on set. Eventually I got up and went to the PA system and plugged in my MP3 player.

Guitar filled the Black Box Theater, "like a gift from the heavens it was easy to tell it was love from above that could save me from hell. She had fire in her soul it was easy to see, how the devil himself could be pulled out of me. There were drums in the air as she started to dance every soul in the room keeping time with their hands." I sang loudly over the music wondering if maybe I was still a bit drunk.

But really what I was thinking about was this night Tori and I went down to the beach late at night with a blanket and we just laid on the sand and looked at the stars before she got up and just started dancing, out of nowhere to a beat she could only hear. It was hilarious and mesmerizing. I remember standing up and dragging her into me and kissing her long and hard before she dragged me to start dancing with her.

"You could tell how we felt from the look on our faces we were spinning in circles with the moon in our eyes, the room left them moving between you and I, we forgot where we were and we lost track of time and we sang to the wind as we danced through the night." that was the most fun I'd had in months, holding Tori close against me in the winter air, kissing her when I felt like it, really letting go and having fun. Being ourselves, being together.

"She had fire in her soul it was to see how the devil himself could be pulled out me. There were drums in the air as she started to dance every soul in the room keeping time with their hands…" I slumped down onto the piano bench as the song finished. God I hated myself more than I hated Tori right now.

I almost had to laugh at the next song that came on, I refrained from singing along to the Seether song, but it didn't stop for someone else, "Fake it if you're out of direction, fake it if you don't belong. Fake it if you feel like infection, whoa, you're such a fucking hypocrite."

"Why are you here Beck?" I growled, standing and storming over to shut off the music, "it's like four in the morning."

"Five thirty, actually." he replied, hands buried in his pockets as he made his way up onto the stage, "you drunk dialed me last night, and Tori, so I figured I'd come see if you were okay. Sikowitz says you've been here for awhile. You feeling alright?"

"What message did I leave you?" I asked. I remembered calling Tori, but I didn't remember calling Beck. He just smiled at me and stopped right in front of me, looking down at me with worry in his dark brown eyes.

"Gravity." He replied, tucking some hair behind my ear, "two whole verses starting with poison. What happened last night?"

"Went to Tori's, felt some feelings, went home, got drunk." I shrug and step away from him, heading to my bag and my now warm coffee with a frown on my face. He let out a deep sigh and followed me out of the Black Box, patiently holding my coffee while I locked the door and handing it back to me once I was done.

"You don't have to hide forever from her, you could talk to her, and I mean more than just leaving her a message with lyrics from need you now and telling her you hate her." Beck holds open the door to Sikowitz's room, nobody is inside but we passed plenty of people in the hallways.

"Traitor." I glared at Sikowitz who was dashing out the other door as we entered, "why'd she call you and tell you what I said?"

"Who else does she have?" Beck drops his bag beside his chair and grabs a cup of coffee from a table near the window, "Cat wouldn't know what to say, she'd never tell Robbie, and you and Andre were always the first people she went to and now she can't."

"That's her own fault." I snapped halfheartedly.

"You did the same thing to Andre for this movie, Jade." Beck argues, "he forgave you, you should start trying to forgive her."

"She came back and lied to me Beck, pretended like everything was okay and then said she couldn't get out of it. She had no real reason other than she had better things to do!" I yelled, my fist tightening around my cup.

"That's not why your mad, Jade."

"Quit acting like you know me! You don't know anything about me!" I screamed, wishing the coffee was hot so I could throw it at him.

"I know that you have to have at least five cups of coffee to make it through a day, that you come here and play piano at three am when you're conflicted, that you run an unhealthy amount to replace your addiction," He pauses, "I know you love writing and acting so you can become someone else, I know there's a scar under your star tattoo. I know you love animals more than people and once brought home four stray cats and found them new homes. I know Tori meant a lot to you and I know you have secrets that only Tori knows. I know you Jade, you can't deny that and I know why you're really mad at Tori."

"If you know me so well then, tell me, why do I hate Tori?"

"Because she didn't fight back. Because she just left." Beck says, stepping closer. I wanted to punch him in his face, instead I settled for hitting him in the chest and biting down on my cheek really hard.

"I hate you."

"I know." He replies and then he does what I don't expect. He puts his arm around my shoulders and pulls me against him in a hug that brings tears to my eyes.

"I'm a mess." I mumble, he just rubs my back until I pull away and take my seat a few minutes before the bell rings. I refused to look at him or talk to him the rest of the day. I stay for lunch with Andre and Beck comes over at lunch and sits on one side of me while Andre is on the other and they talk about music and acting and school. I sat quietly and murdered my salad. The one thought on my mind the whole time was that he was my Sean. He could tell me exactly what I felt even if I didn't know it yet and push me back into being myself instead of a mess.

I thought about it all the way to Empire Films Studio. When I got there I was rushed straight into make up and then pushed onto the sound stage to start filming my scene with Harmony. It didn't take my long to get into character. My thoughts were pushed aside and I became Evelyn Lynch, an assassin out to get the people who murdered her family.

Jen came up to me between takes and told me we were going out to dinner, just us, and didn't give me a chance to argue. But I was too tired and happy to get a meal cooked for me so I would go, who knows maybe she had something interesting to talk about. Beck popped up on set too, and when I saw him I marched straight over to him, "You really suck, you know that?"

He looks bewildered but smiles a little, "why?"

"Because you always have to be right? But don't tell Tori anything okay? Come here." I grab his arm and drag him away from Jen's dressing room, "look that little talk made me think about something Tori and I talked about forever ago. You know that movie Burlesque?"

"The one with Cher?" I nod, "yeah why?"

"Tess and Sean." I say, "I said I wanted a relationship like that and I used to think it was you and she said something stupid about how they weren't in a relationship and soon we'd patch things up and she was right. And so were you, and I miss being able to talk to someone who knows me as well as you do because I love Andre but we've never been more than friends and he doesn't get me the way you do…."

"What are you trying to say?" he asks, trying not to laugh, I scowl but he just keeps grinning.

"I want us to be friends again." I reply, trying not to sound agitated, "after all I'm becoming good friends with your girlfriend." I grin at her as she walks over to us, she looks at me with a raised eyebrow.

"What's going on over here? Getting back with the ex?" she asks in a teasing tone. Beck just shakes his head and laughs, putting an arm over her shoulder and kissing the side of her head. I smile at them both, feeling a thousand times better than I had all day for some reason.

"I gotta get going, just came by to see my girlfriend. See you Monday, Jade." Beck says, reaching over and messing up my hair before he walks away with Jen who is just laughing her head off. I sigh and go back to hair and make up to get my hair fixed before I have to go do my next scene.

Dinner went by quick, Jen was actually pretty much just like me and it was nice to work with her and get away from Harmony for awhile because that girl was way too much to handle sometimes. Jen had always encouraged me to start talking to Beck again when we started seeing each other on set and tonight she finally explained why.

"Tori's gone and you need someone who understands you inside and out, and if it has to be your ex then so be it but you're barely holding yourself together." And then she went back to eating her steak and talking about the movie.

After dinner I went home, did my run with Jenna and then crawled into bed, worrying about tomorrow when I'd spend the day at Vega's going over the script we were given. Luckily it was Saturday which meant no school. Unluckily it meant that I would be at Vega's for much longer than I wished.

**Yay for three day weekends! **


	5. Chapter 5

**Whatever It Takes**

**Summary: Tori Vega is a good actress, but she's tired of pretending. All she wants is her old life, her old friends, and her girlfriend back. When leaving is hard, coming back can be even harder. Jade West is tired of the pain, tired of feeling sorry for herself, and ready to start fresh. But sometimes you just can't let go of the things you love, even after they've hurt you.**

**Pairing: Jori**

**Rated: M**

My stomach was twisted in knots as I waited for Jade. She was about twenty minutes late. I couldn't blame her; I wouldn't want to be with me either. I suppose it's my fault for letting her down. I should have been at the showcase, but I forgot. I had a life too; I would have possibly gotten fired for missing that damn party.

I would have missed in a heartbeat if I had actually remembered about the showcase, but I'd forgotten all about it and I hadn't, like Jade had claimed, ignored her calls. My phone had died half way through the party. I only got one of her calls and I'd picked up as soon as I noticed it ringing. It died as I picked it up.

I sighed and picked up a shirt from the floor, tossing it into the hamper in the corner of my apartment. My room was now spotless, I'd been up since six am, and the rest of my apartment was clean too. The kitchen, previously destroyed by Harmony on a quest to make the most disgusting thing she possibly could and she ate it too. I just pretended I didn't notice what was in the mixture while I cleaned it.

At noon I gave up on Jade and settled into my couch, turned on a marathon of Dead Like Me and started cleaning my nails to paint them, I was finally done and they were almost dry, my toes as well, when the stupid door bell rang. With a defeated sigh I stood up and wandered over to the door wishing I could move the annoying hair in front of my face but my wet nails would get messed up.

I unlocked the chain, the deadbolt and the door knob and pulled the door open, taking a few steps back. Jade was standing on the other side of the door in a pair of sweatpants and a tank top looking ready to murder someone, "Good afternoon sunshine." I greeted, motioning for her to come in.

"There's a fucking accident right outside my neighborhood and another outside of your apartment complex." She stomps into the house, "and then your stupid fucking complex manager wouldn't let me inside until they got a hold of Harmony and she okay'd it."

I swung the door shut and relocked it. She flung her bag onto my couch and followed in suit, dropping onto my couch, "they feel like they have to keep everyone away from us. I'm sorry, I put your name on the guest list they're just a bunch of dumb asses."

"So this script, lets get to it." She pulls out her copy and I go get mine off of my desk. We practiced for a few hours just reading and memorizing the script and then we started practicing moving and actions. The script was about two roommates fighting over the same guy, Jade's character won. By the time we were done my stomach was growling loudly and I was ready to just make some pizza, until I realized we were out of food. Jade slowly packed up and shouldered her bag, heading for the door.

I grab my bag and my keys, slipped on a pair of heels sitting by the door and followed her out, stopping to lock my door while she sped down the stairs. I trailed her slowly, heading for my car while she quickly moves to hers without hesitation. I slide into my car, tossing my bag into the passenger seat while looking into the back seat. I drop into the driver's seat and pull the door shut behind me, starting the car.

When I reach the store I just want to run in, get food, and run out. But I hesitate and pull my hair down and then up into a better ponytail before I slip out of the car, sling my bag over my shoulder and head for the door, unzipping my bag and tossing my keys inside as I make it up to the door. It slides open and cool air blasts across my face, goosebumps scatter across my arms and I rub them to try and chase them away as I grab a cart.

I speed through the isles grabbing whatever food looks good enough and things I know Harmony used up last night. I suppose one good thing about always shopping here is people stopped caring that I was a celebrity, because here I was shopping at the same grocery store as them in a ratty pair of jeans and a stained t-shirt.

By the time I packed up my fridge I was too lazy to cook anything so I poured myself a bowl of cereal and turned on the music channel, laying on the couch with the bowl on my stomach eating slowly. I felt tired, but then again, I've felt tired everyday since my tour ended. But I'd be up doing whatever until I just passed out, nothing I tried could help me fall asleep any faster.

When I was finally done eating I rinsed out the bowl, kicked off my heels and went into my bedroom, pulling my hair up into a ponytail and pulling my jeans off, tugging a pair of shorts on and pulling my ratty shirt and bra off to replace them with a sports bra and a tank top. I found my head phones and my pearpod buried under mountains of papers, my old pearpod, not my new one.

I placed the buds into my ears and tucked the pearpod into my bra, hitting play and shuffle before pulling on a pair of shoes. I grabbed my keys and put them into my bra as well after locking the door. It was dark outside now, with a cool summer breeze and the smell of barbeque in the air. I jogged from my apartment to the gates and from the gates down to a park where I did a few laps on the jogging trail provided, although I was sure the park had been closed for hours by now.

When a really sketchy group showed up I hopped the nearest fence and just started jogging down the sidewalk wherever my legs decided to carry me. "she's cold and she's cruel and she knows what she's doing, knows just what to say so my whole day is ruined." The old song came on and brought a smile to my face, until my mind wandered over to Jade.

Nothing in my mind made sense, my brain wanted to justify her being mad at me, my heart kept screaming that I wasn't completely at fault. I wasn't sure which I sided with, I could see why she was mad at me, and in the same respect I could be mad at her too, I'd told her I had a party I was going to that night and she didn't say anything, and neither did Andre.

I came to a stop, trying to catch my breath outside of a gas station that was surprisingly far away from my apartment and the park. I was honestly closer to Jade's house then I was to my own. Once I could breathe normally again I turned and went back toward my apartment. Stupid Jade. While we were working I couldn't help noticing how pretty she looked today with hardly any makeup on and her hair was still straightened from yesterday with some waves in it. While she was reading over the script she just looked so peaceful and happy.

She used to look like that a lot, before I left it was a regular thing for Jade to smile at me or laugh or just be completely carefree. But now all those walls were built back up keeping out everyone, including as Andre as far as I was concerned. She wasn't happy around him; she just was here so she wasn't alone. She felt like that was open invitation to come bother her.

Once I got home I felt more awake then I had before, I showered and then dropped into my chair in my room, picking up my phone and scanning through my messages. Tomorrow I had a meeting with my band to do our first run through in a warehouse I'd been renting for months. I hooked up my pearpod to blast through my radio while I texted Will to find out what time. I sunk down on my bed, "you were everything, more than obsession, the love that I sing aloud and now the love goes dark and everything goes black. They turned out the lights, now were back to back."

I mimicked playing the piano on my thighs even though I couldn't tell you the keys that I could have been hitting, because piano wasn't my thing at all, "and everything we could have been was falling apart and now we're back, back to back." I rolled over and stared out the window into the starry night sky with a frown on my face. There's a tree right outside that looks about as tall as Jade's was, I can just imagine her sitting up in that branch staring down at me. But there's nothing there, just a ray of moon light splashed across an empty branch.

My fingers absently stroke the head of the tiger laying between my and the wall, "hi Rajah." I mumble closing my eyes just to remember that day. We were at the fair for my birthday, near the nearly impossible carnival games. I saw this purple tiger and I wanted it so bad so I paid and tried to climb that stupid rope thing and ended up falling on my ass twice.

"_But I really want that tiger." I grumbled, stepping away from the game so I could keep some of my pride intact. I notice Jade is staring at the game runner and all of the sudden she's pull off her leather jacket and shoving it into my arms._

"_Hold this." She demanded, I pulled the jacket on because I was cold and she probably wouldn't notice for awhile. It smelled faintly of her perfume and her shampoo. It was a really nice combination with the leather smell._

"_It's not as easy as it looks." the carnie warns her. She says something that I don't really hear before she grabs the ladder and starts climbing, she makes it look so easy as she moves up, barely shaking the ladder and then grabs the bell before flipping herself over and landing on the mats._

"_She wants the purple tiger." Was all she said before she stepped out of the game area, the carnie looked disappointed as he hands her the tiger, which she hands to me. I hold it close to me. It looked like a small tiger figurine that my grandmother used to have and I missed her terribly. I probably looked like a child hugging that thing to my chest like it was the best thing in the world._

"_You've got a really nice girlfriend." The guy tells me as we walk away. _

_I laugh and turn to face him with a sad smile, "I wish she was." And I walk beside Jade whose cheeks are red from the exertion climbing and the cold air biting at her cheeks. I fight a giggle and smile at her before skipping ahead to join Cat._

I roll back onto my back and scowl at the ceiling, "and I hate how much I love you girl, I can't stand how much I need you." The song randomly comes to my head, stupid Rihanna and Ne-Yo. I stand up, pulling the curtain on my window closed as my towel drops to the floor.

I pull on a pair of underwear in front of my dresser and catch my reflection in the mirror. My hair's stuck to my side below my rib cage curling in a strange way that reminds me of a horror movie branch and it's partially covering my tattoo. I peel the hair away and run my fingers over it. The colors are a bit faded, but it's still pretty bright. I can still remember how painful it felt to have the needle prodding my ribcage.

My ribcage was becoming less of a sore sight, I'd always been skinny but being on tour instead of eating badly I just didn't eat. I'd been furiously trying to put the weight back on, and slowly I was, but I couldn't stand to look at myself even if I could no longer see my ribs, I felt like a zombie. My eyes had huge black bags beneath them constantly and unless I had my nails done I'd chew them into nubs.

Turning away from my mirror I grabbed a blanket and draped it over the mirror and I propped my closet doors open and put a curtain over those mirrors too and looked through the closet trying to find something decent to wear to band practice. I grabbed a pair of ripped up tattered shorts and tossed them onto my bed along with a random tank top with a face on it I'd gotten god knows where that showed my sides. And honestly it was hotter than hell in that warehouse so this was just fine to wear.

I pulled on the tank top and wandered into the kitchen to make coffee, the pot spluttered and then started pouring the dark liquid out, filling the small apartment with the delicious smell. I went to hang up my towels and clean up the mess I'd left in the bathroom before I wandered back into the kitchen, made my coffee and sat down at the bar with my phone.

I had an interview on Friday night for some TV show with my band, practice at 8 tomorrow morning, a photo shoot after school on Monday and lunch on Tuesday with Harmony, Wednesday I was supposed to work with Jade on our script and Thursday we were going to act them out in class, Thursday night I'd be flown out to New York since school was closed on Friday.

I took a sip of my coffee, finding something oddly pleasurable about the way it burned down my throat and warmed the put of my stomach. I scrolled through my twitter feed, fan emails, and business emails for the next two hours, going through four cups off coffee before I heard keys jingling in the door.

"Tori!" Harmony called, I looked over at her with an arched eyebrow, "oh good your up!" she giggled coming through the door. Jade trailed behind her, much to my surprise. I glanced at the clock to find it was three am.

"What the hell are you doing out this late?" I ask, looking at Harmony who is kicking her shoes off while trying to shut the door. But Jade's standing by it, she looks really angry and ready to scream at someone.

"We got off set late and Jade lost her keys and I'm really tired." She said, "so she's sleeping on the couch." And with that Harmony shoved Jade, shut and locked the door and went to her room, "I'll get you something to wear."

"Thanks Harmony." Jade mumbles and follows her down the hall. I turn back to the bar table and finish off my cup of coffee before boosting myself onto the chair and leaning over the counter to grab the coffee pot and pour myself the final cup. I let it cool off while I dragged the couch back and pulled out the pullout for Jade who came wandering back down the hallway dressed in a pair of sweats and a baggy shirt with a tired Harmony behind her.

"Thanks for pulling the mattress out Ria." Harmony said hugging my shoulders before heading to her room. I finished off my coffee silently, listening to Jade try to get comfortable on the sofa bed. Once I was done with my coffee I slipped out of my chair and started another pot of coffee. I listened to Jade move around and she sighed, telling me she'd given up on falling asleep.

I grab a second coffee cup, some creamer, and some sugar before the pot finishes and I pour each of us a cup, mixing in the creamer and sugar for Jade and then for myself, "I set her coffee cup on the table beside the couch and sat back down on the bar stool with my piles of mail that my manager had dropped off a few days ago.

"Thanks for the coffee, Vega." Jade says, I hear the cup being picked up but I don't acknowledge her words. My mind is starting to wander off again, thinking back to a time when I used to wonder if one day Jade and I might have an apartment together and drink coffee together into the early morning hours, "Vega?"

"Hmm?" I turn around and see her sitting up on the couch legs crossed staring at me.

"I asked what you were reading." Jade sounded exasperated, I glanced down at the letter in my hand that I hadn't started reading.

"Mail." I replied, "you can turn on the TV if you want, Harmony sleeps like the dead." I turn back to the letter in my hand but I still don't read it. What would it have been like to live with Jade, have a huge bed just for us and sleep snuggled together without a care in the world? What would it have been like to be with Jade for the first time? What would it have been like to wake up after that first morning?

"Vega."

"What?" my voice came out in a whisper.

"I asked where your remote was."

"Computer desk." I mumble, getting up to get it before Jade even moves. I hand it to her, the letter is still in my hand, and Jade looks at it before looking at me and then she takes the remote from me and looks away from me. I sit back down and this time I really look at the letter, raising my coffee cup to my lips.

_Dear Tori,_

_ I'm sure you never expected to hear from me again. I finally got a hold of an address to contact you at. I miss you, baby. I'm so sorry I left you, but I couldn't stand to see the way your father was treating you, I just needed to leave. I can't tell you why I left you, I can't justify it. I'm sorry and I wish there was something I could do to make it up to you. I really love you baby, I know deep down your father does too, he just wants what's best for you and so do I._

_ Love always, your mom._

I dropped the letter and the coffee cup together, the cup hit the carpet after clipping the counter and breaking into three pieces. It was enough to get Jade's attention, "Vega?" my stomach felt like it had dropped out of my butt and I couldn't see straight, I wanted to puke and I wanted to cry and everything was confusing. I could feel myself shaking and the tears burned down my cheeks.

"Why…" I can't even breathe.

Jade must've picked up the letter and read it because she set it on the counter, grabbed my chair and helped me out of it, avoiding the glass as she led me to the couch, pulling me down on it. Without a word she put her arms around my shoulders and pulled me back so I was lying down next to her.

She rubbed my back and smoothed out my hair and as the minutes passed I started to feel myself falling into this hole of self-pity and anger. The a few words of the note rang through my head, "he just wants the best for you and so do I. The fuck does that even mean?" as soon as I spoke Jade let me go and I rolled onto my back and glared at the ceiling. Without a word Jade took my hand, lacing her fingers through mine.

"It means your moms a bitch and no matter what you feel she's a detriment to your life. Bad things don't need to be there." She rubbed her thumb across my hand it was so weird. 12 hours ago she wanted nothing to do with me, but now she was laying there holding my hand. I knew in a few hours we'd go back to ignoring each other but for now I wasn't alone.

I doubt either of us fell asleep in the next two hours, but we hardly moved, I rolled over and stretched until my back popped, and Jade let go of my hand to roll over onto her stomach. When the sun finally came up I got out of the couch bed and shut the blinds so it would remain dark, and then I pulled Harmony's door shut before I started getting dressed.

I left around 7:30, Jade was asleep by the time I came back out with my bag slung over my shoulder. I locked the door and went down to my car, slipping sunglasses over my eyes. The warehouse isn't too far away, and after a quick stop for some coffee and coffee creamer I'm throwing the door open and walking in. There's an ugly brown tattered couch with piles of blankets strewn across it sitting by the door in front of the mini stage I had set up, minus any instruments. Off to the left are two counters and a fridge, I put the coffee grinds and creamer into the fridge and cleaned out the coffee pot in the small sink.

At 8 Will showed up with Tomorrow May Come showing up a few moments later. I listen to them play what they'd learned of my songs and we started playing together until Blake and Anastasia left for dinner with their parents. Will had left an hour ago at least for a meeting so it was just Crystal and I now.

"Do you want some coffee?" I ask while I start the coffee maker.

"Yes please." She replies, I turn my head when I reach into the fridge, she's standing by my wall of pictures with her arms crossed, staring up at them. I sigh and pull out the coffee grinds, scooping out the correct amount and returning the grinds to the fridge before walking over to the wall, "is that Jade West?" she asks, point at a picture of Beck, Heather Fox and me.

"No, that's Heather Fox." I reply, scanning the faces in the pictures. I had none of Jade and I except for one from my first year at Hollywood Arts, I point it out, "that's Jade West."

"So were you guy's friends?" she asks, turning away from the wall and smiling at me.

"Not really." I reply, "we had friends in common, she really only interacted with me at the time because of Beck."

"That's really cool. I really loved her in that new movie that came out over the summer; even though her part was small she was amazing." Crystal gushed, walking from the wall over to the couch and sinking down into.

"Really?" I ask, walking to the coffee machine, "I still haven't seen it." Which was a lie, because I'd seen it more times than I'd like to admit, just because Jade was in it for 15 minutes. I poured myself some coffee, "how do you like your coffee?"

"Lots of creamer, lots of sugar." I pour in a lot of cream and a lot of sugar and then stir it in, put the creamer away and go over to the couch, handing Crystal her coffee. She drinks it hesitantly while I swallow mine urgently, like I'll die without the liquid scalding the back of my throat.

I drag a computer chair from the back over so I'm sitting a good distance away from the couch and silently drink my coffee. Crystal clutches hers between her hands and stares at it, not saying a word. She stays until a horn honks outside, I glance at the half open garage and see the bottom and tires of a red car.

"My rides here. I'll see you tomorrow, Tori." I nod and she gets up, grabs her bag, sets her coffee on the counter and walks to the door. I can see her look at me while she hesitates by the door, but I don't look up at her, instead I sip my coffee and stare at the wall, wondering why I felt so strange about what had just happened between Crystal and me.

**Welcome to updates post Melly getting a job. I'll probably only be able to post one every other week or so. Maybe more often. Lots of school work and work, work. Hopefully updates wont get too bad. Enjoy, tell me your thoughts. Still hate Tori? **


	6. Chapter 6

**Whatever It Takes**

**Summary: Tori Vega is a good actress, but she's tired of pretending. All she wants is her old life, her old friends, and her girlfriend back. When leaving is hard, coming back can be even harder. Jade West is tired of the pain, tired of feeling sorry for herself, and ready to start fresh. But sometimes you just can't let go of the things you love, even after they've hurt you.**

**Pairing: Jori**

**Rated: M**

**JPOV**

**Unedited**

"I hate sand. I hate the beach. I hate all of this." I grumbled standing up after I was finally free of the fake tail. I brushed sand off of my arms and shook my head to get some of the salt water out of my hair. The makeup kids followed Beck, Cat, Tori and the rest of us mermaids into the beach house we were borrowing. Our hair was washed and restyled and our make up touched out before we were sent out to enjoy another fun round of wading in the water freezing our asses off.

Tori and I sat side by side on the small little towel by the water. We were playing the fourth and fifth sisters in the Little Mermaid production, "how's the coffee burn?" I asked, awkwardly sitting down beside her in the tight fishtail.

"Not too bad." She replied, looking down at her chest. I tried not to stare at her almost fully exposed body. She was in an orange seashell suit with a grossly colored orange tail, "sorry I ruined your morning coffee."

"I'm sure TMZ will fully enjoy mocking us tonight." I laughed, brushing sand off of the blue tail clinging to my legs. This thing was so uncomfortable, "I can't wait until we're done."

"Me too, I just want to go home and have a nice long bath. I'm going to be so tired after today." She stretched out and rested her hands on the sand, tipping her head back, eyes closed, sun washing over her skin so it looked the color of coffee. It reminded me of the day on my roof where her eyes looked like coffee. I love coffee. I love _her._

"Sounds wonderful. I've got to go be on set all day tomorrow to film some final scenes and re-record some lines, and then host my brother's birthday party on Sunday." We're called into the water, and somehow together we manage to waddle into the water and get dragged to where we need to be for the scene. All we're supposed to be doing is singing with the other sisters in a long line.

By the time we were done it was nearly sundown, I was freezing and shaking as they led us into the beach house for pizza and warm clothes. Snug in my sweats and HA sweatshirt I sat on the couch eating a slice of pizza beside Beck. Cat was sitting across from us beside Tori, happily eating pizza.

Sinjin and Robbie and a few other tech-geeks crowded around a computer working on merging our vocals with what they filmed. I leaned back against the couch and sighed, "Cat, the next time you ask me to do something like this for you, remind me to say no." I groan.

"Kay, kay!" she chirped, unaffected by my shitty attitude as she ate her pizza and listened to what Robbie and Sinjin were saying behind her. I finished off my pizza and moved to sit behind Robbie to watch what they were doing. Watching myself on screen during editing was one of my favorite things.

Around 5 Beck, Cat, Robbie, Tori and I walked out together heading toward our cars. When I got home I took the hot bath I promised myself and sat down in the living room with my father and brother, turning on TMZ. I was right in assuming TMZ would have something on me dumping coffee on Tori.

We both were walking into the house, Vega in front of me, I was looking down at my phone, someone called Tori's name, she turned and stopped, I kept going. She wore my coffee, and stumbled back across the door, yanking me down on top of her. They managed to even catch Beck hauling us up and Cat dragging Tori away, Beck closed the door before I started screaming.

"Nicely done, honey, you and Tori are very graceful." My dad laughs, grinning at me

"We try." I joke, handing my brother the remote so he can start whatever it is he wanted to watch. Jenna was curled up on the couch between us and my dad was in his recliner beside us. We ended up watching one of the newer Scooby Doo movies until 10 before my brother went upstairs for bed.

"So, how's life?" My dad asked after he came back in from tucking in my brother.

"Interesting." I laughed, my eyes glued to the screen. I wasn't watching it, though, "how's work been?"

"Boring." He shrugs, "how are you and Tori? Are you two still not talking?"

"We talk." I retort, "but we're not friends, if that's what you're asking." No way, if anything we were more than friends, but we were the kind of friends who used each other as a shoulder to cry on not the go to the movies or mall and talk about boys.

"I know she hurt you, Jade, but you can't push away everyone that hurt you." He tells me, "I miss you. You were so happy, smiling a lot, I miss that. even when you smile now you just seem far off, and no dad wants to see their little girl like that."

"Incase you haven't noticed, pops, I'm not your little girl anymore."

He sighs and stands up, giving me a hug that I didn't return. He kissed my head, "you'll always be my little girl, Jade." I scowled at his retreating back and pulled my knees up to my chest, watching some stupid cartoon on screen for a few moments before I get up and head to my room.

The truth was I missed Vega, so much, but I couldn't trust her to not walk out on me when her career called to her, even if I wanted nothing more than to touch her and kiss her and be with her again. I grabbed my photo album while walking to my bed, dropping down onto it with Jenna hopping up right next to me. The book starts out with random pictures from years ago and slowly goes into Christmas day; I try to ignore the huge gap between my ages in the pictures.

There are the pictures of all of us in front of the tree. And then Trina and I, Trina and Tori, Trina and the dog. Tori and I at the foot of the stairs. She's looking at the floor blushing and I've got my hand on her cheek, staring at her. It's just after I'd changed, I'd come back down and she said 'I told you it'd be black' about my dress and I kissed her. I look at the next picture it's us standing in the kitchen. I'm behind her with my chin resting on her shoulder and my arms around her waist. She's smiling warmly looking at me out of the corner of her eye.

There's also one I don't remember seeing, Tori and I sitting at the piano, Christmas night. My stomach twisted with the memory of us singing Concrete Angel together. Jenna sensed my unease and wiggled her way into my lap. I flipped the page and found new years pictures, just a few weeks before the showcase. One of Tori and I sitting on the swing at the cabin, probably taken by James through the window. We were listening to the ball drop from the TV inside, staring up at the sky. She was sitting between my legs and had her head resting on my shoulder.

I flipped the page where the showcase pictures started and my happy face slowly turned angrier and angrier, the longer Vega was away and I was forced to listen to her voice on the radio. I turned back to the page with Tori and I at New Years Eve. I took it off of the page and closed the book, shoving it away as Jenna weaseled her way further into my lap.

We were so happy then, not a clue in the world about the betrayal that was about to happen. I was happy, thinking that maybe, just maybe, Vega would be the one for me that I'd spend years with her, and maybe some day even marry her. Maybe I'd even finally get to be with her in more intimate ways. But no, we were destroyed, ripped apart by her need to be famous.

But part of me couldn't even blame her. I'd pick my career over most people too, but not her. I was in love with her; I would have done _anything _for her. I would have forgiven her if she'd fought for me, I would have melted into her if she'd just tried. Anything. I didn't want it to end, I was just mad.

And then she left.

I stretched out and rolled onto my side, Jenna twisted so she was lying right beside me, and I just stared at that stupid picture. My stomach ached I was so upset, I felt like puking and like someone punched me in the gut. I held the picture close to my chest and buried my face in Jenna's soft fur as tears poured from my eyes.

Sometimes I hated Tori so much, for making me so weak, for making me care, for making me _feel._ She forced me to feel, to stop being numb to everything around me, to care about people, to laugh, to smile, to love. And she walked out, and all I felt was pain, heartbreak, _despair. _I was alone, I had nobody.

Her voice was on the radio everyday, singing songs about how great her life was, they weren't all lies, but they weren't the truth, either. She was happy though, because she was singing, she was touring. She had a band and friends and fans who adored her. I had a dog who couldn't talk, a brother who couldn't understand, and a dad I didn't know well enough to talk to about this kind of thing.

"Wanna go on a run, Jenna?" I mumbled. At the word she jumped up and dashed for the door. Setting the picture down I dragged myself out of bed, put on a sports bra and some running shoes and led her down the stairs. Once she was leashed up we took off down the road, moving slowly.

It was a nice clear night outside; someone somewhere was smoking a cigarette, though. I couldn't tell where, but I could smell it. Or maybe it was coming up from the basement, where I could see tiny fractures of light spilling out onto the patchy grass. I stopped there, and stared for a moment. I could make out the faintest hint of the music booming below, I could smell vodka, cigarettes and weed. Something deep inside me longed for the days when I could just walk in there, but I'd hate myself forever if I did, so I ran on.

Jenna was happy as I picked up pace and went from jogging to running to sprinting to racing down the road as fast as I could, up the hill at the park and down it until I fell onto my knees, gasping for air, my lungs burning, after all, that was the feeling-the rush-I got when I was down there and now I didn't need to be down there. I had this. I coughed, trying desperately to get the air back into my lungs. I closed my eyes, put my head between my knees and took slow deep breaths, Jenna sat beside me patiently.

The rest of the run was a steady jog up to the music store and back to my house. I didn't even look at the basement this time; I went straight to the front door, unhooked Jenna, locked the door and went into the kitchen to get some water for us. Jenna lapped it greedily; I chugged down a whole bottle, and then we went upstairs to sleep.

Three cups of coffee in the morning got me to work, I was sitting in makeup getting fake cuts and bruises all over my skin. The process took forever, but the outcome was amazing. I looked like I had been beat to hell. I tried not to look too long, remembering when a few of these cuts were real, and painful. A punch here, tossed down the stairs, slammed up against the wall.

I knew how to play beat up.

I walked out onto set, Jen was the first to see me, she was sporting matching cuts after a fight we'd filmed two days ago. She grinned at me, "I kicked your ass, West."

"Which one of us dies again?" I shoot back with a grin, she hooks an arm over my shoulder and we walk to a long table with coffee, there's more, but the coffee is what I really care about.

"So I hear we get to hear you sing today, you're doing a duet with someone for the soundtrack." I shrug, I'd known about it for weeks, but I didn't know that it was today, "do you know who it is?"

"Not a clue." I pour myself some coffee and add two sugars and some cream, stir it together, and chug it down, turning with Jen to look around at the crew assembled. That was when I spotted Harmony coming in with Vega's arm hooked through hers, Vega looked horrified for a moment when her eyes fell on me, and then she saw Jen and seemed to calm down. Interesting, "But if I had to venture a guess I'd say its our very own Tori Vega." I say her name loud enough that she hears me.

She waves at us sheepishly and Jen waves back, "How's Andre gunna handle that?" Jen asks, sounding worried as we watch Harmony giving Tori a full tour of the set.

"Not really sure." Before we can talk more we're called to get in places. I have fake blood smeared on me that I'm supposed to wipe off and Jen is given some nice blood pouring from a stomach wound from a shiny fake knife I have. We face off, we both look angry, they yell for silence on the set. I slip into character and everyone else is forgotten.

The next scene we have to shoot has me in a nice dress, it's white, airy. I'm standing at a graveyard, in front of an unmarked headstone with a rose in my hand. It mirrors and earlier scene of a little girl in a similar dress in front of the grave. I bend to put the rose down and turn slowly, Jen is standing there, gun aimed at my heart. I smile at her, closing and opening my eyes slowly. There's a bang, I hit the button in the palm of my hand, the blood bag pops and blood soaks the front of my dress as I fall back, inches from cracking my head on the foam headstone.

I lay there with my eyes open, pretending I'm dead, and Jen walks up to me, kneels down and brushes my eyelids closed before she kisses my forehead. I grab her by the throat and snatch her gun, as I shove her backwards, pressing the gun against her chest, "sorry, lover, but I don't die that easily." I aim at her head and pull the trigger. They stopped filming to add blood, Jen is smiling and laughing, and then as soon as they yell action she's a corpse, "I will miss you." I lean down and kiss her on the lips softly before I stand up and head to where my car should be.

"Alright! Good job girls!" I grin and spin around, Jen is already standing and walks over to me with her arms extended, wrapping them around me in a hug, "that was really great! You girls almost had me convinced you were lovers."

"I'll stick with dating her ex." Jen teases, I stick my tongue out at her and wrap my arm around her back, and she puts her arm over my shoulder. Someone takes a picture or two, not sure who, and we walk back to makeup to get cleaned up. Once the blood was cleaned off of our skin we changed into our clothes and wandered back out on set. I was happy to be back in my shorts, tennis shoes and tank top. I shrugged my sweater on as well and sat down on a chair to watch the scene they were filming now.

After they were done I was kinda kicked out by our director to head over to Sky Records, Tori's record label. I sat in the back of the town car that had picked me up this morning reading over the song we were supposed to be performing. I didn't want to walk in their without knowing what to expect. We made one stop to pick up Andre, who was a lot less excited than I was.

"Why Tori?" he complained.

"Because she's the hottest thing in pop music, Andre." I reply, dropping my head against the seat, "just pretend she's some stranger."

"Easy for you to say. You've been talking to her." Andre snaps, "You've forgiven her, I haven't."

"I haven't forgiven her for anything, Andre. She might have ditched you, but she walked out on me. Her _girlfriend._ So don't pretend you have more of a reason to hate her than I do." He shuts up and I fix my glare out the tinted window. When we arrived at Sky Records I plastered a fake smile on my face and followed Andre into the building. We were directed upstairs to the third floor.

A guy with brown curly hair and pretty blue eyes met Andre and I, "Hey, I'm Will, Tori's producer, you must be Andre. I've heard a lot about you, I'm so glad I can finally work with you."

"Will Austin?" Andre said, turning to me with an excited look on his face, "I'm honored to be working with you!"

"Now he's in a good mood." I mumble under my breath, "I'm Jade."

Will flicks his eyes to me, shocked, and extends his hand slowly, "It's nice to meet you, Tori's told me a lot about you."

"All really horrible and demented, I'm sure." I smiled, shaking his hand, "she here yet?"

"No, not yet, but I'd like to hear you sing a few songs so I can figure out how your voices sound together. I hope you don't mind." He holds open the door for us, Andre and Will sit at the soundboard while I go in and drag a stool over to the mic he had set up, I slip my headphones over my ears.

"Anything specific?" I ask.

"Iris." Tori's voice says. I watch her setting her bag on the floor, "I liked when you'd sing that at night."

"I didn't know you'd hear me."

"I wasn't asleep." Tori shrugged, sitting down in a chair behind the boys, looking at Andre briefly with a sad look on her face. I shrugged my shoulder and did a few vocal warm ups before the track started playing in the headphones.

"_And I'd give up forever to touch you. Cause I know that you feel me somehow. You're the closest to heaven that I'll be and i don't wanna go home right now. And all I can taste is this moment and all I can breathe is your life, when sooner or later it's over I just don't want to miss you tonight." _

My voice cracks a little on the next verse and I wince when it reaches my ears but keep going, watching Tori. She's staring at me now instead of Andre a sad far away look in her eyes.

"_You can't fight the tears that ain't coming, or the moment of truth in your lies. When everything feels like the movies, yeah you'd bleed just to know you're alive. And I don't want the world to see me cause I don't think that they'd understand, when everything made to be broken I just want you to know who I am."_

"That was really good." Will says after a few minutes of silence.

I tear my eyes away from Tori and smile at him cheekily, "of course it was." I hop off the stool and cross into the other room, sinking down into the leather high back wheeled chair beside Tori. Will and Andre are working on the board in front of us.

"Sounded good, Jade." Tori told me with a small smile, she looked a little sad, behind those pearly whites, "so Will, my band here yet?"

"They're getting coffee." Will retorts, "Crystals been asking about you, though. I think she's got a little crush on you Tori."

Jealousy coiled in the center of my stomach, Tori's cheeks didn't turn red though, she just looked annoyed, "great, that's what I need another band member after me." she got out of her chair, "Jade, will you come with me downstairs?"

"Sure, Vega." I pushed out of my chair, "as long as I get some coffee."

"I can't promise it tastes good." She retorted, holding open the door for me.

"Coffee is coffee." I walked out the door, waiting for her to fall in step beside me, "so how'd you like Harm's scene today? I assume you stayed long enough to see it."

"She did good. I really liked the scene you did with Jen, how did your character survive?"

"Bullet proof vest and some fake blood. There's been a scene where she takes it off already, we just had to re-shoot that scene today." I stepped into the elevator beside her, "so whose Crystal?"

"She's part of my back up band, guitar. She admires you." Tori says, "And apparently has a crush on me. Yay. Just what I really wanted. This is why original back up band isn't my backup band anymore, one of the guys tried to make a move on me."

"What kind of a move? Asked you out or copped a feel?"

"Tried to cop a feel. I broke his wrist, I really didn't even think about it I'm just so sick of people thinking they can touch me whenever they feel like it." I nod my head slowly, I know exactly what that feels like and it sucks, "I don't want her to start liking me, I can't return that feeling."

"Why not? I'm sure she's a nice girl." The elevator doors dinged to signal they were open, she turned to me.

"She's not you." Tori stepped out ahead of me, "are you coming?"

"Y-yeah." I shook my head slowly and stepped out behind her, following her down to the kitchen. My head was spinning dazed, I was so confused. My head was spinning with this new information as I stepped into the kitchen behind her, three sets of eyes fixed on us. I stared them down one by one until my eyes met the blondes; she was staring at Tori with pretty doe brown eyes.

"You guys ready?" she asks, walking across the kitchen and grabbing the coffee pot, she fills up a cup, adds two sugars and some cream, and walks back over to me, handing me the cup. Her fingers brush against mine when she hands it to me and she smiles warmly, her cheeks turning pink.

"Thanks, Vega." I tease, taking the coffee and grinning at her, she bites her lip and all I want to do is lean in and kiss her. I put the coffee cup to my lips instead, "lets go sing a song together so I can go home."

"Got big plans?" she teased as we walked, her band behind us.

"You know me, gotta go home and party like a rockstar."

"Don't get too drunk, I hear there's a birthday party you've got to deal with." She winks at me and I grin at her, my heart fluttering happily in my chest.

"I'm going to kill them all. I'm horrible with kids, you should come over and chaperone instead. You like kids and all that cheerful bullshit." I wrinkle my nose in disgust as we step into the elevator everyone follows us in, standing on the opposite side of the elevator.

"I'll stop by." She tells me, "So Jade, this is Anastasia, Blake and Crystal." She points at each, Anastasia has red hair that curls down to her shoulders, Blake has cropped black hair, and Crystal is the doe-eyed blonde I'd guessed earlier, "you guys, this is Jade."

"Nice to meet you." Blake says, Anastasia nods in agreement.

"I'm a huge fan." Crystal says blushing, biting the inside of her cheek, I sip from my coffee and nod my head in acknowledgement, forcing a fake smile in Crystal's direction, because inside I hate her for even thinking about Tori that way, even if she has next to no chance.


	7. Chapter 7

**Whatever It Takes**

**Summary: Tori Vega is a good actress, but she's tired of pretending. All she wants is her old life, her old friends, and her girlfriend back. When leaving is hard, coming back can be even harder. Jade West is tired of the pain, tired of feeling sorry for herself, and ready to start fresh. But sometimes you just can't let go of the things you love, even after they've hurt you.**

**Pairing: Jori**

**Rated: M**

**TPOV**

I'd been laying around the apartment for an hour now, it was early Sunday morning, hardly even 7 o'clock, I'd gotten home pretty early last night and gotten in a nice relaxing bath that I missed out on Friday night because I'd been swarmed by paparazzi and I couldn't go home until I shook them.

Now I was sitting on the couch watching the TMZ from Friday night, trying not to think about the fact that I told Jade I wouldn't like anyone that wasn't her. Every time I thought about it my stomach fluttered and I just started grinning like an idiot. She'd seemed caught of guard when I said it and started acting all flirty, and she would not stop glaring at Crystal throughout the day while we were recording.

My phone buzzed on the couch beside me signaling a text message. Slowly I uncurled and reached over to grab it, unlocking it and opening my messages.

_From Jade: you coming over? I was serious about the offer; I can't handle all these kids alone and my dads not much better. _

I bit my lip, fighting the smile threatening to take over my face. I quickly texted back that I'd be over soon and slipped off the couch heading to my bedroom. I quickly curl my hair and put on some makeup, hoping Jade would just assume it was incase cameras caught me, even though it was for her. I shimmied into a pair of light wash jeans, pushed my feet into a pair of converse, grabbed a pair of sunglasses and made my way out the door, snagging my purse of the kitchen table before I left.

It was strange for me to walk up to Jade's house, I was nervous. There were balloons tied to the mailbox and a 'parties here' sign. I stepped up the door and knocked, I got no answer. I knocked again, and beyond the door I heard a crash and Jade cursed. I pushed the door open and stepped in, "Jade?"

"Kitchen!" she yelled back. I pushed the door shut and walked quickly to the kitchen, stopping short in the doorway when I almost stepped on glass, "I'll go get the broom." I tell her. She's standing there looking at the glass angrily, barefoot and in a pair of pajama shorts.

I go over to the closet beside the stairs and find the broom and dust pan stashed there and head into the kitchen. I sweep up the glass quickly and dump it in the trash while Jade carefully moves through the kitchen to get a new glass for whatever she needed. This time she grabbed a plastic one, "they're kids so they don't really need glass, right?" she joked, carrying it past me, motioning for me to follow her out to her back yard. Her pool was filled now, and two tables were set up with party things.

"Tori!" James screamed, he ran toward and launched himself at me, arms spread. He hit me like a ton of bricks and almost knocked me over, "I missed you! Nobody makes ice cream Sundays the way you do!"

"So you missed my ice cream? I'm feeling the love." I tease, giving him a crushing hug in return, "happy birthday."

"Thank you!" he said as I let him go, he took off again, over to a table where his dad was standing, and he hadn't turned around. I wandered over to Jade who asked me to help her sort out bags for each kid.

"I'm going to go get changed, just tie them up and set them out." I nod and continue to stuff the bags while Jade walks off. Once I have one of each thing in the bags I tie them off and lay them out across the tables, when I'm done Jade comes back downstairs, dressed in a white t-shirt and a pair of shorts. She's got bathing suit strings sticking out of her shirt.

"Anything else?"

"No. Now we just wait for the kids." We don't have to wait long, the first two kids show up five minutes later, coming in through the back gate where there parents leave them with us, happy for the break from the screaming kids. They're all hyped up and excited, and as soon as the last party go-er shows up they're all begging to go into the pool.

"Okay, go ahead." Jade's dad says, the kids rush into the pool screaming with laughter. Jade's dad wanders inside and I find a spot to sit and watch them. Jade's standing by the back door in the shade, eyes hidden by sunglasses. I smiled at her, she smiled back. Out of nowhere music came on, I spotted the speakers behind me, and Jade's father came out, dressed in a loose shirt and some shorts.

I hadn't seen him dress this casual during the majority of the time I'd lived here, he'd always been in suits, or at least a pair of dress pants and a button up. He had a pair of sunglasses on, too, and some sun block that wasn't quite rubbed in on his arms. He walked over to me slowly, watching the pool, and grabbed a chair on his way, setting it down beside me.

"Didn't expect to see you around here anytime soon, Miss Popstar." He smiled at me, I smiled back, "so how'd Jade rope you into this mess?"

"I had nothing better to do, honestly, and it's a nice break to just sit and relax…as relaxing as this is, anyways." I comment, watching James canon ball in and splash his friends with a pretty big wave of water, "took the day off work?" I inquired.

"Yes, not every day your son turns 13."

"Jade!" James screamed when he broke the surface, "come swim!"

"Not gunna happen." She called back from the safety of the shade.

"Chicken!" he called back, she didn't seem to care about the name calling and he turned to me, "Tori?"

"No suit, sorry." I replied, shrugging one shoulder. He pouted and turned back to Jade, pouting, Jade turned her head away from him and he scowled at her, soon enough, though, one of his friends distracted him and he joined in on their game of Marco Polo. The backyard grew silent with the exception of the music.

"So how's the music going? I heard you're doing some songs for Jade's movie with her."

"Yeah, we had a duet for the soundtrack and I have a single going on it, too. I finally got a permanent backup band and now I've just got to finish up this next album and I can take a break for awhile to finish school before I go back on tour-or at least that's my plan." I comment, chewing on the inside of my lip, "how've you been? I really miss being here…"

"We've all been pretty good, Jade hasn't been home a lot with her movie, so it's mostly been James and I, and I can make mean pancakes but I'm useless in the kitchen with anything else."

"Take out every night?" I laugh, he nods not even a bit embarrassed, "pizza for their lunch today, then?"

"Yes, it should be here soon, do you mind going to check, actually? Here's the money." He hands me some money and I get up, nodding, and walk out the back gate around the front of the house. I'm only outside for a few minutes when Beck's truck, topped with the pizza light, rolls up. I walk over to his truck and meet him around the front.

"Tori, what are you doing here?"

"Supervising." I reply, handing him the money. He counts it and then pockets it, "I'll see you at school tomorrow."

"Alright, tell Jade she owes me ten bucks." He comments, getting into his truck. I give him a puzzled look but he offers no answer so I just shrug and walk back around, setting the pizza on the tables. There's two cheese and two pepperoni, and as soon as I'm through the gate the kids are rushing to the tables.

"Alright! Quiet!" Jade screams when they all start shouting pizza requests, "there's enough for all of you to get one of each, so those who want pepperoni, raise your hand!" they all raise their hands and I pass out the pepperoni slices while Jade passes out the cheese.

Jade, her dad, and I sit down in chairs near the table and each eat a slice, "Jade, Beck says you owe him ten bucks." I tell her between bites of my pizza. She scowls and doesn't say anything. They're all jumping back into the pool a half an hour later, screaming as loud as before, laughing merrily.

Two hours later Jade and I were left cleaning up her backyard while her dad took home two of James' friends with James. The music was still on and the sun was slowly sinking below the horizon, filling the backyard with a pink-orange glow. I dumped plates into a large black garbage bag while Jade collected cups and restacked her pool chairs.

When I was done I carried the bag around to the curb for trash day tomorrow, I heard a faint splash as I came back around the house and I found Jade in the pool swimming toward the shallow end. She pushed her hair back and rung it out as she stepped out of the pool, her white shirt clinging to her body. I couldn't help but stare at her, leaning against the fence with a smirk on my face.

"Wanna swim Vega?"

"No suit, Jade." I replied, she came toward me, stalking like a lioness after her prey, stopping right in front of me, "Jade…" I warned when she slipped her arms around my waist. But I didn't fight back when she picked me up, I only wrapped my arms around her neck and laughed a little when she walked backwards, squealing as we crashed into the water, fully clothed.

I came up for air before she did, wading in the water as Jade bobbed up in front of me, a happy smirk on her face. We locked eyes for what felt like forever. Those blue eyes piercing me motionless. My heart ached with longing, I just wanted to kiss her, to hold her. She splashed water in my face and darted across the pool. I swam after her, slowed down by my jeans. By the time I reached where she was I'd made she'd made it by me and back into the shallows.

I unbuttoned my jeans and struggled out of them before I swam after her, managing to catch her between the shallow and deep end at the dip. I hooked my arms around her and planted me feet, picking her up from the water and crushing her against me, "well you caught me." she whispered, resting her head back on my shoulder, "now what?"

Now what? That was the question, wasn't it? I spun her in my grasp and cupped her cheek with my hand, feeling the warmth of her face melting the coldness of my finger tips. I traced her lips with my thumb, staring into those blue eyes. She didn't move, she wasn't even breathing, neither was I.

I leaned in slowly, my heart beating in my throat, and pressed my lips against hers. Her lips were soft, just like a remembered, and warm, welcoming as they slid across mine. She put her arms around my waist and pulled me into the shallow end until she hit the wall.

The kiss felt familiar and new at the same time. Slow, but nervous. Knowing, but testing. Amazing, warm. She broke the kiss by grabbing my hand that was cupping her cheek. She kissed my palm and rested her cheek against it, breathing slowly. I rested my forehead against hers, "I miss you, Jade." I whisper.

"I miss you, Tori." She murmurs, squeezing my hip lightly. Her eyes are closed and her teeth are chewing on the inside of her lip. I kiss her again with fervor. I need her to know how I feel and I don't know how to say it. She returns the kiss with rigor, tangling her hand in my hair as she traced my bottom lip with her tongue, silently asking. My lips part. Coffee is the first thing I notice, something that's just so unique to Jade. Her nails dig into my scalp and hip. I drag one hand up her back, the other knotting into her dark hair.

When we break apart this time it's only long enough for Jade to get out, dragging me behind her. With some smart thinking on my part I fish my jeans out of the pool before she pulls me into her bathroom, pushing me up against the door to close it, my head banged against it, but her lips were on mine before I could protest, her nails raking up under my shirt and shoving it upward, leaving burning trails up my flat stomach.

I don't know what we would have done. Would we have stopped on our own? Would we have done something there in her bathroom? I couldn't say for sure, but the front door opening had us jumping apart. My chest heaved as I tried to catch my breath, my heart hammered against my sternum and I just stared at Jade.

"I'll get you something to wear while you shower." She murmurs, heading for the door. I step out of her way and she leaves, closing the door behind her. I start the shower, my hands shaking slightly, probably from being cold, and pull my shirt off over my head, letting it fall down onto my jeans.

I unhook my bra and peel of the soaked underwear, tossing them into the pile as well before I start her shower and step inside. Nothing much has changed in here, Jade still has three different sets of shampoo and conditioner and two different bottles of body wash. I use the green bottle of shampoo that smells like mangos and the pink body wash that smells like strawberries. When I step out I find that Jade has left me some clothes on the counter and mine are missing.

I snag an extra towel from the closet behind the door and try of my skin before flipping my hair upside down and wrapping it up. I pull on the underwear and the shorts and hook on the bra, and realize that these are my clothes, I didn't remember leaving any behind, but when I grab the shirt I find that it's mine as well. I must've had some clothes in the laundry room or something.

When I step out of the bathroom, toweling the ends of my hair I see James coming up the stairs, "Jade told me to tell you she's showering downstairs and to wait in her room if you want. But can you come watch a movie with me for a little bit? Jade wont watch them with me anymore."

"Sure." I shrug, following him down to the movie room with my towel. He sits down on his soccer ball bean bag and I take the football. He's started the second Pirates of the Caribbean movie. His eyes are glued to the screen, completely engrossed in the movie, and he doesn't hear the door open.

Jade looks shocked to see me, but in a good way, she smiles and pulls over a third beanbag chair and sits down next to me to watch the movie. I feels like old times, being back in here with them. We'd have movie nights sometimes. But this is where Jade and I started.

My dad had punched me in the face and I left, going to the only person I thought wouldn't ask me questions or really care. She let me in, gave me clothes, let me shower and didn't ask anything. We talked in an evasive way that told me she knew what happened and alluded the same had happened to her. Then we came in here, got out her vodka and watched Burlesque.

James soon falls asleep, I shut everything off and Jade carries him down to his room. When she comes back out I'm standing by the stairs, "can we go visit my family?" I ask her. She looks at me strange, raising her eyebrow stud at me, "the pink one, with a nice mom and dad."

She smiles softly and nods. We stop at the door to get shoes, I borrow a pair of flip flops, and we walk down the road, up the hill, down the hill and over to the bench swing. We sit down, she pulls her legs up and I use the toe of my shoe to push us slowly back and fourth.

"Have you heard from your mom?" she asks me in a soft tone, like she's scared she'll chase me off.

"No. My manager's assistant who sorts my mail says that's the only letter he's gotten from her but he'll be sure to tell me when he gets another." I look down at the dirt, "what about you? You heard from the terror?"

"Thankfully, no. She's probably long gone by now, which I couldn't be happier about." Jade tells me, looking up to the sky. We sit in comfortable silence, but I stare at that pink house and think about the waitress and the construction man and Hillary off in college.

Eventually we both get up and start walking back to her house, "by the way, I may have destroyed your phone." Jade threw out casually, "It didn't occur to me it was in your pocket."

"It's okay. I can go get a new one after school or something." I reply, "by the way, where are my clothes?"

"Washing machine, I'll bring them to you tomorrow if you want." We stop at my car and she shuffles on her feet, "I guess I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Yeah, if not just put them in my locker, I'll find them." I tell her, walking up to the door of my car. She nods and smiles at me, her eyes locking with mine, and then flicking to my lips. She turns and marches up to her door, "bye Jade!"

"Seeya Vega." She calls back, pushing open the door. I unlock my car door, scan the backseat out of habit and slip into the driver's seat. I start the car as soon as I'm inside and put it in reverse. My mind is in another place on the way back to my apartment, it's a wonder I even made it, but I did and I crawled into bed right after I locked the front door. I was asleep in about ten minutes.

"Tori! Wake up!" I jump, bouncing back against my bed. I glare in the direction of my door where Harmony is hovering in the doorway, "Tori! You're going to be late for school! Get up you idiot!"

I rolled out of my bed in a hurry, grabbing my alarm clock to confirm the time, 6:45. I ran to my closet and dragged off my shorts, dragged on a pair of jeans, changed my shirt and ran a brush through my hair while I hopped into the kitchen. I put some bread in the toaster, tossed the brush aside and found some Starbucks coffee bottles. I snagged one grabbed the toast and grabbed a disposable toothbrush.

I was half way to school when I finished my breakfast; I quickly brushed my teeth and added the brush to my pile of garbage as I pulled into the parking lot at 6:55. I grabbed my trash, my bag, and rushed inside, heading straight to Sikowitz's class and dumping my trash into the can by the door before I sat down.

"Took you long enough to get here." Jade taunted. She was sitting in the chair behind me, Beck laughed when she said it, and Cat giggled.

"Well if someone hadn't destroyed my cell phone yesterday maybe I wouldn't have been late." I throw back, a smirk on my face.

"Maybe if you hadn't been mentally undressing me I wouldn't have felt the need to toss you in the pool." I roll my eyes at her and don't retort, but Beck and Cat are looking at me suspiciously, I turn my eyes to my hands in my lap, biting the inside of my cheek to keep from smiling.

Sikowitz bursts in through his back door, "Is this a dagger which I see before me,

The handle toward my hand? Come, let me clutch thee!

I have thee not, and yet I see thee still.

Art thou not, fatal vision, sensible

To feeling as to sight? or art thou but

A dagger of the mind, a false creation

Proceeding from the heat-oppressèd brain?

I see thee yet, in form as palpable

As this which now I draw.

Thou marshall'st me the way that I was going,

And such an instrument I was to use.

Mine eyes are made the fools o' th' other senses,

Or else worth all the rest. I see thee still,

And on thy blade and dudgeon gouts of blood,

Which was not so before. There's no such thing.

It is the bloody business which informs

Thus to mine eyes. Now o'er the one half-world

Nature seems dead, and wicked dreams abuse

The curtained sleep. Witchcraft celebrates

Pale Hecate's offerings; and withered murder,

Alarumed by his sentinel, the wolf,

Whose howl 's his watch, thus with his stealthy pace,

With Tarquin's ravishing strides, towards his design

Moves like a ghost. Thou sure and firm-set earth,

Hear not my steps which way they walk, for fear

Thy very stones prate of my whereabout

And take the present horror from the time,

Which now suits with it. Whiles I threat, he lives;

Words to the heat of deeds too cold breath gives.

I go, and it is done. The bell invites me.

Hear it not, Duncan, for it is a knell

That summons thee to heaven, or to hell!"

"Okay Macbeth, calm down." Jade says flatly behind me, a few people laugh at her, Sikowitz ignores her.

"Monologues!" he says clasping his hands in front of him, "today I will give you each a monologue, you will have 15 minutes before you will perform them." He walks around and tosses papers at us, our names are scrawled on top of them. I got the monologue from a Cinderella Story, Hilary Duff's version.

I glanced over it and set it back in my lap, missing my phone so much. I kept reaching for it, knowing my manager was probably freaking out, I turned around in my chair, Jade was on her phone, "Jade."

"What do you want Vega?" she asks, not looking up from her phone.

"Can I borrow that to text my manager?"

"Sure." She closes whatever she was doing and opens a new message and hands me the phone. I type in my managers number and use my nickname so he believes its me, tell him I lost my phone. A few minutes later Jade hands it back.

_Got you a new phone, I'll drop it by your place, go straight home after school. No studio. –Northman. _

"Thanks, Jade." I hand her the phone back after I reply to his message. She shrugs before turning back to her cell phone, Sikowitz stands up, knocking his chair back onto the floor so loud it scared everyone-except for Beck.

"Tori!" I blink up at him, "you're up! Attention forward!"

I stand up, setting the monologue in my chair. Sikowitz sat in the back with some paper and waited. I step onto the stage and close my eyes, letting out a deep breath, when I open my eyes I lock them with Jade, because who else can I look at and feel the same way I need too, "No, you listen! You turned out to be exactly who I thought you were. I never pretended to be somebody else. It's been me all along. And it was me who was hurt in front of everybody. Look, I didn't come here to yell at you, okay? I know what it feels like to be afraid to show who you are. I was. But not anymore. And the thing is, I don't care what people think about me... because I believe in myself. And I know that things are gonna be okay. But even though I have no family, and no job, and no money for college... it's you that I feel sorry for." I pause, "I know that guy that sent those emails is somewhere inside of you, but, I can't wait for him... because waiting for you is like waiting for rain in this drought. Useless and disappointing." She looks agitated, and I can't say why. I smile at her, to let her know that I just needed someone to look at. She makes a weird face that makes me smile and looks away.

"Let Tori be your example, children, she did an excellent job. Beck, go." I hop down the stairs of the stage and retake my seat, crossing my legs at the knees. Beck goes up and rolls his shoulders a bit, hooking his thumbs into the loops of his jeans. He closes his eyes for a moment and then opens them again with a crazy smile.

"Heehoo! Havin' trouble with the livin'? You tired of havin' your home space violated? Wanna get rid of them pesky livin critters once and for all? Well come on down and see me folks, I'm the afterlife's leading bio-exorcist. Yes siree! So come on down, and I'll tell ya, I'll do anything. I'll scare 'em real bad. Hell, I'll even possess myself!" he falls to the ground, "Ow!" then he gets back up, "I got demons runnin' all through me, all through me, come on down and see it. And if you act now, you get a free demon possession with every exorcism, now you can't beat that can ya? Hell, bring the little pards down here. We got plenty of snakes and lizards for them to play with. There's no problem with that at all. So, say it once, say it twice, three times' a charm, and remember…" he starts doing a weird dance, "I'll eat anything you want me to eat and I'll swallow anything you want me to swallow." He stops dancing, "So come down I'll…chew on a dog." He howls and then closes his eyes.

"Very good Beck." Sikowitz says, I hear Jade mumbled behind me "Betelgeuse, Betelgeuse, Betelgeuse."

"I'm the ghost with the most, babe." I whisper under my breath, she laughs and then covers it up with a cough.

"Jade, thank you for volunteering!" she scowls, but pockets her phone and stands up anyways, the monologue on the floor in a ball. I half wonder if she's even read it or not. But she probably has.

She only closed her eyes for a minute and found someone to focus on, those blue eyes had me frozen in my seat, "You know when I said I knew little about love? That wasn't true. I know a lot about love. I've seen it, centuries and centuries of it, and it was the only thing that made watching your world bearable. All those wars. Pain, lies, hate... It made me want to turn away and never look down again. But when I see the way that mankind loves... You could search to the furthest reaches of the universe and never find anything more beautiful. So yes, I know that love is unconditional. But I also know that it can be unpredictable, unexpected, uncontrollable, unbearable and strangely easy to mistake for loathing, and... What I'm trying to say, Tristan is... I think I love you. Is this love, Tristan? I never imagined I'd know it for myself. My heart... It feels like my chest can barely contain it. Like it's trying to escape because it doesn't belong to me any more. It belongs to you. And if you wanted it, I'd wish for nothing in exchange - no gifts. No goods. No demonstrations of devotion. Nothing but knowing you loved me too. Just your heart, in exchange for mine." She doesn't smile after hers. She just stares at me and then away and walks to her seat.

Cat is up next, she bounces on stage happily and scraps her fingers through her hair before dragging a chair over and sitting down. Crossing one leg and focusing on Sikowitz, "Rehabilitated? Well, now, let me see. You know, I don't have any idea what that means. I know what you think it means, sonny. To me, it's just a made up word. A politician's word, sonny. Young fellas like yourself can wear a suit and a tie and have a job. What do you really want to know? Am I sorry for what I did? There's not a day goes by I don't feel regret. Not because I'm in here. Because you think I should. I look back on the way I was then. A young, stupid kid who committed that terrible crime. I want to talk to him. I want to try to talk some sense to him. Tell him the way things are. But I can't. That kid's long gone and this old man's all that's left. I got to live with that. Rehabilitated? That's just a bullshit word. So you go on and stamp your form, sonny, and stop wasting my time. Because, to tell you the truth, I don't give a shit."

"Very good, Cat." She smiles and laughs and retakes her seat, "Andre and Robbie are absent..." the randomers went next, and Sikowitz just sat there and frowned, "okay. Tori, back on stage."

"Aye, aye, captain." I stood up and made my way on stage.

"Jade, Beck, you too." They give him a strange look but join me on the stage, "okay, I'm going to shout out a movie, you have to come up with a line, someone else needs to come up with a line that matches that. First line, two points, second line one point. After two of you get the lines, I give a new movie."

"Okay." Beck shrugs his shoulders and so does Jade.

"Girl, Interrupted!"

"You know, there's too many buttons in the world. There's too many buttons and they're just- There's way too many just begging to be pressed, they're just begging to be pressed, you know? They're just - they're just begging to be pressed, and it makes me wonder, it really makes me fucking wonder, why doesn't anyone ever press mine? Why am I so neglected? Why doesn't anyone reach in and rip out the truth and tell me that I'm a fucking whore, or that my parents wish I were dead." I recite the line.

"Because you're already dead, Lisa!" Jade calls out.

"Jade and Tori with a point. The Breakfast Club!"

"Don't mess with the bull young man, you get the horns." Jade smirks.

"Fuck you." I retort.

"Jade and Tori. Beck you're slacking. Shawshank Redemption."

"I don't read so good." Beck says quickly.

"Well, you don't read so well. Uh, we'll get to that." I finish up, Sikowitz smirks and writes something down.

"Burlesque."

"I don't get why everyone's having a conniption over her, she's just a tacky farm girl from Iowa." Jade smirks looking at me with this strange emotion in her eyes that I don't know.

"And we know a cow when we see one." I smile back at her as I repeat the words, a small fluttering in my stomach. The bell rang before anymore movies could come up and Sikowitz dismissed us. I grabbed my bag and followed Cat out.

"Vega!" Jade called, grabbing my arm and dragging me to slow down next to her, "Figured we could walk to class together." She adjusts her Gears of War bag on her shoulders and matches pace with me perfectly.

We take pianos side by side and she helps me with the song we were learning. After school I went to my car as promised. When I got back to my apartment my manager was waiting for me. The tall blonde with huge shoulders and a winning smile was hunched over my coffee table filling out a crossword.

"I have a regular table, you know." I tell him, shutting the door behind me. He shrugs one shoulder and scribbles in a word before setting the pencil down, "so what was so urgent I needed to come home after school?" I grab a soda from the kitchen and wander back into the living room.

"It's about your family. Your father has been arrested and your sister and mom are in the hospital." The can crashed to the floor at my feet and exploded, but I hardly heard it over the roar of my heart in my ears, my stomach felt like it had dropped out my butt and the room spun in front of me.


	8. Chapter 8

**Whatever It Takes**

**Summary: Tori Vega is a good actress, but she's tired of pretending. All she wants is her old life, her old friends, and her girlfriend back. When leaving is hard, coming back can be even harder. Jade West is tired of the pain, tired of feeling sorry for herself, and ready to start fresh. But sometimes you just can't let go of the things you love, even after they've hurt you.**

**Pairing: Jori**

**Rated: M**

**JPOV **

"Bye Harm!" I called, waving my hand at her before I slid into the driver's seat of my car. She waved back, getting into her car. I twisted the key in the ignition and turned the radio on; an unfamiliar piano piece filled the car. I stared up at the studio sadly, this was my last day. We'd come in to do some voice over work and do a few promotional shots earlier, and now it was done with.

I drove home slowly knowing once I got home I'd be stuck in a fit of wanting to sleep and not being able to. I left the studio at 7, and by 8 I wasn't any closer to home than I had been before. Instead I was sitting at Jewbrew next to the school sipping on some hot cocoa and eating a brownie.

I had my headphones shoved in my ears as I stared across the building watching the old people happily sit together and drink coffee. Most seemed to be married, judging by the rings on their fingers, and they all seemed happy. I hated that, or well I was jealous of it. Because I wanted that. To sit across the table and drink coffee with the person I'd been married to for years. To be happy together with someone. With her.

I scowl down at the brownie on my plate, my stomach twisting uncomfortably. I pull out my phone and pull up a few old pictures of us, my stomach hurt badly and my eyes burn. Everything sucks. Well not everything. Not Sunday. Not the idea that something more could have happened between us if they hadn't shown up.

With a heavy sigh I put my phone on the table, picking up my cup. I brought it to my lips and tipped the hot liquid into my mouth; I swallowed slowly and set the cup back down, crossing one leg over the other and resting my head in my hand. Maybe I could ask her out on a date, we could go to dinner or a movie or something. And it could be close to old times again, with us, together.

"Jade…" I blink, turning my head slowly to meet the eyes of the manager, "we're closing. Sorry hun, you gotta go."

"Sorry, didn't realize it was so late." She shrugs her shoulder as she walks away from me. I pick up the cup and drain it, snagging a napkin for my brownie before I slide out of my booth. She holds the door open for me with a tired smile on her face, I return it the best I can, and then head for my car.

I'm just about to start the car when my phone goes over, vibrating madly in the cup holder, I pick it up and slide my thumb across the screen, "hello?"

"Jade! Do you know where Tori is? I just got home and there's a soda spilled on the floor and she's not answering her phone! I don't know what to do!"

"She had to go meet her manager, did you try calling him?" I said, remembering seeing the text in my inbox earlier.

"I don't have his number!" she screamed. She was worse than Cat in stressful situation.

"I have it. Just so sit on the couch on calm down." I hang up on her and scroll through my messages back to his number; I press it and hit call, drumming my fingers on the steering wheel.

"You must be Jade. What can I help you with?" a guy says, I picture a man in a suit with his legs kicked up on the table and a glass of scotch in his hand. I hate him.

"Where's Vega at? Her roommate's flipping out." I hear him mumble something. but it's muffled so he must have put his hand over the phone, I hate when people do that. I add that to the list of reasons to hate this guy.

"She's at the hospital, she's okay, she asked me to ask you to come down. Her phones dead." My stomach drops the mention of a hospital, what happened to her? It's after visiting hours so it couldn't be anything good. She couldn't possibly be okay.

"Yeah sure, which hospital?" he gives me the name and then hangs up on me, much to my annoyance. I text Harmony that Tori's fine, even if I don't really know that, and then back out of the parking space, headed straight for the hospital, wondering what the fuck Tori was doing at a hospital, I practically chewed a hole into my lip on the thirty minute drive up.

I'd never liked hospitals, they were always too clean, and too empty at times, busy at the others. Tonight it was empty, just two nurses sitting at the desk and a few doctors walking the halls. I walked up to the nurse's desk and leaned my arms against it, waiting for them to finish up their call.

"Thanks for waiting, visiting hours are over…" she looks up at me and clearly recognizes me.

"I know, I'm actually here to see Tori Vega…I don't know if she's a patient or not…" I looked around, chewing on the back of my lip, I taste blood but that doesn't stop me from continuing to chew at the sore.

"Tori isn't a patient, and I'm not supposed to say she's here, but I know who you are. She's down in the room at the end of the hall. Knock first." I smile in thanks and head down the hallway, if she's not a patient then what is she doing at the hospital. I stop outside the door and knock on it lightly.

A guy with short blonde hair and green eyes towers over me, "Jade's here, Tori." He's wearing jeans and a button up, so I guess he's not as much of a slime bag as I thought. But I still don't like him.

"Can you give us a minute, Eric?" I hear Tori whisper. He steps out of the room and holds the door open for me. Trina and Miss Vega are sitting on beds inside. Trina's got a black eye and her arm is in a cast. Miss Vega has something wrapped around her wrist, a split lip. Both girls have IV's hooked to them.

"Hey Jade, lovely to see you again." Trina says, winking at me with her good eye. Tori's sitting next to her bed, holding her good hand. I walk over to Tori and rest my hand on her arm.

"You too, Trina." I lean my hip against Tori's chair, "Harmony is flipping out, I think she thought you'd been kidnapped or something."

"Yeah well, if I'm not home by one am she calls me a million times; she'll get over it eventually." Tori shrugs her shoulder, my hand drops off of it, I drag a chair over and sit beside her.

"So how's your new album coming along little sis?" Tori shifts in her chair, dragging her legs up onto the seat. She starts telling Trina about her album and as she talks she starts looking more tired, and soon her eyes are drooping and she asks Trina about her job at the comedy club she'd opened with a few friends, and soon she's asleep in her chair, curled up in a little ball.

I turn to Eric who is standing by the door, "Did she drive here?"

"No, I drove her here." He says.

"I'll drive her home, then." I offer, Trina is slowly falling asleep, and Miss Vega has been asleep for about an hour, so there's no need for us to still be here when she can sleep in a bed before we get kicked out. I shake Tori's shoulder, she groans and shifts, but she doesn't wake up, "I guess I'll carry her, too."

"I'll carry her for you." Eric offers, walking toward us to lift Tori, I hold out a hand to stop him. No way in Hell was I trusting him anywhere near her. The thought I was being jealous crossed my mind, but I shoved it away and glared at him.

"I got it. I actually want to talk to Trina. Alone." He looks at me and purses his lips, nods and walks out without looking back at us; the door shuts with a click behind him, Trina turns to me with a raised eyebrow, "did you report him?"

"Yes." Trina replies, closing her eyes, "but he's a cop and it's going to take a lot for someone to actually take us seriously."

"I think the broken arm and black eyes might make people believe you. How did he find you guys?" Trina rubs her bad arm with her good hand and lets out a long sigh.

"My mom found me and he followed her, and when neither of us would tell him where Tori was he got mad. And I defended Tori, and then mom got in the way. It was just really bad. But then mom told him a fake address. They have a cop on the door."

"I'll let you get some sleep." I stand up and drag my chair back to where it belongs. Tori's still not waking up, not even when I drag her chair to the wall, "call me when you get out if you need a place to stay." I take out my car keys so I can unlock the door with Vega in my arms.

"I will, now get my baby sister to a bed, and you stay and make sure she's okay in the morning or I will hunt you down, West." I slide my arms behind Tori's back and under her legs. She's lighter than I've ever remembered her being, which isn't a good thing. I juggle her carefully and open the door to the room, stepping out and letting it shut loudly behind me.

I scan around outside before I step out the automatic doors of the hospital, heading straight for my car. I manage to push the unlock button and lean in carefully, grabbing the handle and pulling the door open, I hook my foot in the gap, hop back and open the door with my foot. I set Vega in the passenger seat carefully and pulled the seatbelt across her, clicking it into place.

I shut her door and walked over to the drivers seat. Her apartment was about an hour and a half from the hospital and since she was asleep that left me with nothing but the radio to fill the space in the car. I turned up the CD Harmony had made me; we had an hour of the drive left when Tori woke up. She joins the word of the awake with a sharp intake of breath and pushes her self up in the seat. She doesn't speak, and I don't say anything to her.

"I gotta ticket for the long way round two bottle of whiskey for the way and I sure would like some sweet company what do ya say?" She sings along when the song changes, I smile. She uses her phone on the door to mimic the sound of the cup as she clap. It's sloppy and off beat just a bit, but it's still nice to hear. I wince when the song ends and Nicki Minaj fills my car, Tori however starts to sing along.

I just ignore it, speeding up a bit and passing a rather slow moving car, when Starships ends she turns the CD down, I can hear another one of her songs just barely still playing, "did you carry me out to your car?" she asks.

"I did. I told Eric to leave to ask your sister about what happened, I don't know how much he knows."

"Not much, just about them, not about me." she crosses one leg over the other, "I'm sure he assumes that I was involved in that, but he's too nice to ask. He didn't wait?"

"No, I told him I'd take you home." I shrug my shoulder, "besides since I didn't know if he knew I didn't want him hearing you if you started having a nightmare or something." It's a lie, the thought hadn't crossed my mind, I just wanted him away from her-no I just wanted her to myself.

"Well thanks." She scratches the back of her head nervously, "I haven't been having the nightmares as often, Harmony really only has to wake me up from them once in awhile. I usually wake myself up before they get too bad."

"We were having one just now?"

"No. I was on stage naked, actually." she laughs nervously, watching the road, "I don't want to go home." She blurts out, talking rapidly, "can I come stay with you for the night, please?"

"Of course." I answer, swiftly changing lanes and making the right turn that led us toward my house, "a few minutes later and we would have missed the turn, though." She smiles at me and sinks back against her seat, looking out the window silently. I turn up the song to fill the silence between us while I drive.

When we pull up in front of my house she stares up at the front of the house while I wait for the door to roll up. I close the door behind me once I pull in and cut the engine, pushing the door open and stepping out. Tori followed behind me, "I'm going to use the bathroom."

"I'll be out with Jenna; I'll find you when I get back." I reply, she walks out of the room in a slow way, like her mind is somewhere else completely. I grab a water bottle from the fridge and stick a second one in the freezer. "Jenna!" I call as I walk toward the door, grabbing her leash off the table beside the door.

When I turned around she was sitting waiting, wagging her tail, I lean and hook up her leash and kiss her nose, "heading out?" my dad asked, appearing in the entry way by the door to his office, his hands buried in his dress slacks.

"Yeah. Tori's here, she's upstairs. Keep and ear out for her coming out of the bathroom." He nods and I unlock the door, stepping out with Jenna. She takes off at a trot happily dragging me behind her. When we get back to the house Tori is sitting on my bed looking out the window, "I'm back." I comment, kicking off my shoes.

She turns and smiles at me for a moment and turns back to the window, staring down at the pool, "are you alright?" I ask, she nods her head slowly and stretches out her legs, lying back on my pillows. I pull off my shirt and put a new one on over it, unhooking my bra and tossing it aside I change out of my pants into shorts and then sit down on my bed next to her.

Without a word she curls up beside me, one arm tightly across my stomach the other tucked between us. She puts her head on my shoulder and hooks one leg over mine. I put my arm around her back and rub her arm with my free hand, "they found my dad and arrested him."

"That's good."

"Said he admitted to everything, _everything. _Apparently his lawyer wants to plead insanity." She turns her head and moves a bit closer to me, yawning, "Either way it looks like he's going to be put away…"

"Good. Now you get some sleep." I rub her arm with my thumb, closing my eyes. I felt sleep clawing at my brain.

"Jade?"

"Yes?" I ask, trying to open my eyes, but I can't force the energy into my eyelids enough to open them. Tori shifts and opens and closes her mouth, like she wants to say something but she doesn't want to say it at the same time.

"I'm having a concert on Friday, it's more of a bar thing, but I'd really love it if you'd come." She settles down beside me again, relaxing against me, I sigh and shift to get more comfortable.

"Sure, sleep now."

The rest of the days are terribly boring, they drag by slowly and make me want to just stay in bed the next day and not get up. Tori missed Tuesday and Wednesday to visit with her mom and sister, on Thursday she left before gym; we hadn't talked since Tuesday morning when I dropped her off at the hospital.

But today was Friday, and today meant going to her concert, and seeing her again and ever since Sunday when she came over for that party a part of me has been giddy around her. I can't stop thinking about her, about kissing her. I just want to grab her up and hold her and protect her from everything.

When I watched her on her interview yesterday she looked tired, drained, dead, lifeless. She looked like a shell of the shining bright Tori Vega I used to know. It wasn't something I was used to seeing, she was always bubbly, and she even acted like she was. But I could tell, she wasn't okay.

I exhaled as I stepped up to Sikowitz's window, I tapped on it, but when I got no response I gave a push. It opened with no noise. I swung my leg over the windowsill and slipped into the building. It was dark but my phone was bright enough to lead me through the room and down to the black box theater where the piano was sitting.

I played a few random notes and then started in on a song I remember playing last year after sneaking in here, "I'm 15 for a moment, caught in between 10 and 20, and I'm just dreaming, counting the ways to where you are."

"I'm 22 for a moment, she feels better than ever and we're on fire, making our way back from Mars. 15 there's still time for you, time to buy and time to lose, 15, there's never a wish better than when you've only got a hundred years to live." My hands seem to flow like water over the cool keys, my eyelids fall over my eyes and I hunch over the keys playing from memory. I feel electricity flow through me a grin pulls onto my face for a beat.

"I'm 33 for a moment, still the man, but you see I'm a they, a kid on the way a family on my mind. I'm 45 for a moment, the sea is high and I'm heading into a crisis, chasing the years of my life." This time the door doesn't open. I remain alone.

"15 there's still time for you, time to buy and time to lose yourself, within a morning star. 15 I'm alright with you, 15 there's never a wish better than this, when you've only got 100 years to live." There's no Vega on the bench next to me because she wasn't asleep on the table outside.

"Half time goes by, suddenly you're wide, another blink of an eye, 67 is gone, the sun is getting high we're moving on. I'm 99 for a moment, dying for just another moment and I'm just dreaming, counting the ways to where you are, 15 there's still time for you, 22 I feel her too, 33 you're on your way. Every day's a new day."

"15 there's still time for you, time to buy and time to choose, hey 15 there's never a wish better than this when you only got a hundred years to live." I play the next notes, and my hands linger over the keys for a few extra seconds when I'm done. The door opens now, though, and swings shut with a loud bang.

"You always steal the best ideas." Andre comments, tossing his bag on a seat, "lemma guess, a certain Latina on your mind?" his voice doesn't hold the usual distasteful bite it usually does when he's talking about Tori.

"When isn't she lately?" I ask, my fingers still dancing across the keys.

"Wanna play me some Celine Dion?" he jokes stepping onto the stage, I roll my eyes at him and laugh as he sits down, playing the song for himself, "how about this…" he gets up and finds a guitar and starts playing the song.

"I remember tears streaming down your face when I said I'll never let you go, when all those shadows almost killed your light. I remember you said don't leave me here alone, but all that's dead and gone and passed tonight." Andre kept playing but I stopped singing, when he finished the song-he was never one to stop early-he put the guitar back and sat next to me on the bench again, "so what put you in a good mood?"

"Tori and I had a nice long talk yesterday; I hadn't realized how much I missed her. Just hasn't been the same with out my best friend."

"Gee thanks." I deadpan; he nudges me with his arm. I can just make out the smile on his face in the dim lighting, "going to her concert tonight?"

"I am, I'm in charge of making sure you actually show up." I roll my eyes at the statement, on the verge of commenting that of the two of us I actually keep my promises. But I don't say anything. Andre and I sit and play random songs on the piano and talk about unimportant things until classes start.

The day seems to drag by but at lunch Andre and I leave early, heading over to my house so he can make sure I get ready and actually end up going. He comes with me to walk Jenna and sits downstairs talking to my dad while I shower, "how much longer do we have?" I ask Andre when I step into the kitchen toweling off my hair.

"Do you always walk around in a bra with him over?" my dad asks.

"Yes." We answer in unison. I'd never really thought about it like it was a weird thing, I'd known Andre for so long that it didn't matter to me, we had a crush on one another at one point, but we were always more musically drawn to each other than anything else.

"I'm not sure how comfortable I am with that."

"It's not like we'd ever do anything, he's got a girlfriend. A hot actress with cocoa skin and dark eyes. He's always talking about her, it's so annoying." He scowls at me and I smile, my dad just shakes his head. I drape my towel over my shoulders and open the fridge to get myself a bottle of water.

My dad starts talking to Andre about Vanessa and then about the concert tonight before he gets called by a client and disappears into his office. Apparently the bar is a few hours away so Andre herds me upstairs to change and fix my hair. It takes an hour alone to straighten and dry my hair, and another half an hour to put on my makeup and figure out what I'm going to wear.

When I finally come out of my room I'm in a pair of dark washed jeans, black platform heels with a red tank top under my leather jacket. Andre's in a pair of lighter jeans with a blue shirt and his leather jacket over it. He makes a show of checking his watch and I take an extra long time to walk into the bathroom, brush my teeth and sprits on some perfume.

The car ride does actually take an hour and a half, and the line is already pretty long, but Andre completely bypasses it and shoves his way to the front of the line. He says something to the bouncer who looks over him, then at me and steps aside to let us in, I actually hear a few people calling my name trying to get my attention.

It's bizarre to me, I'm used to people thinking I'm Heather, but when I heard people calling me Jade and asking for an autograph I'm more than a little startled, but Andre drags me inside before I can respond to any of them. It's dimly lit inside, much the same as outside where the sun is setting. People are already crowding the place, but Andre points out Beck and Jen, I grab his hand and shove my way through people until I reach them, I sit down next to Jen and Andre drags a stool over to our table and sits beside me. I glance at the small stage and I can just make out a mic stand, a set up drum kit and Crystal lingering just beyond the stage.

I narrow my eyes at her angrily when I see she's touching Tori's arm and standing way too close to her, leaning into her. I hate that girl so much, I don't care what Vega said about not wanting anything to do with anyone that's not me. I still fucking hate that bitch.

**Song was 100 Years by Five For Fighting.**


	9. Chapter 9

**Whatever It Takes**

**Summary: Tori Vega is a good actress, but she's tired of pretending. All she wants is her old life, her old friends, and her girlfriend back. When leaving is hard, coming back can be even harder. Jade West is tired of the pain, tired of feeling sorry for herself, and ready to start fresh. But sometimes you just can't let go of the things you love, even after they've hurt you.**

**Pairing: Jori**

**Rated: M**

**TPOV**

My stomach is a mess, as it always is before a performance. Pre-rush nerves that make my hands shake and my stomach sick. I'm standing behind the curtain peering at the crowd when I see Jade pushing her way through, fingers locked with Andre's held above the crowd as she elbows people out of her way.

Her hair is pin straight and hangs around her like a curtain of black satin, her eyes are underlined with black and shadowed shade of grey and a splash of red. Her lips are glossed with something clear that makes me want to storm off stage and just kiss her senseless. Jen says something to her as she sits down and her lips quirk up into a smile. She's got her leather jacket on over a red shirt paired with some tight dark jeans and platform heels.

"Stalking?" Crystal appears in front of me, her blue eyes flicking toward Jade briefly before returning to me.

They're a few shades lighter than Jade's almost like ice crystals, befitting her name. Her skin is pale, but doesn't have that same porcelain look Jade's seems to have, her lips have pink gloss on them and she's wearing green eye shadow to match her green top. She's wearing white jeans a pair of pale pink heels, her hair is in messy loose curls.

It takes everything in me not to recoil when she touches my arm; she leans into me and just smiles, "you know she really hates me." Crystal comments, "It's pretty funny, I couldn't imagine why she'd hate me, I've only met her once." When she pulls her hand off of my arm she drags her fingers down my wrist and tosses her hair over my shoulder, walking away again.

I see Jade's eyes narrowed at the spot Crystal was just standing in, when she catches my eye I smile at her nervously and wave before following Crystal back to the rest of the band. Blake is tuning his guitar beside Anastasia who is toying with her bass. Crystal is standing by the mirror checking her makeup with her drum sticks in her back pocket.

Five minutes later we all walk silently out onto the stage; I walk up the mic, introduce my new back up band and start in on the first song, dying to chase away the tangles in my stomach.

"I kn-kn-know a girl, she gets what she wants all the time 'cause she's fine, but for an angel, she's a hot hot mess, make you so blind but you don't mind. 'Cause she's an uptown, get-around, anything-goes girl, girl. She's a hardcore, candy-store, gimme-some-more girl, girl." The crowd starts to sing a long and cheer and the familiar rush shoots through my veins, chasing away the nerves.

"She'll make you take her to the club, but then she leaves with her friends! She likes to stay late at the party, 'cause the fun never ends and all her clothes are on the floor and all your records are scratched. She's like a one-way ticket 'cause you can't come back! Saying yeah... you want her, but she's so mean"

"You'll never let her go. Why don't you let her go?" Anastasia sings beside me.

"Yeah... you want her, but she's so mean!"

"You'll never let her go. Why don't you let her go? You kn-kn-know that if you don't shut your mouth, she'll freak out. You better get your shit together, 'cause she's bringing you down now. Yeah boy you better, you better 'cause she's an uptown, get-around, anything-goes girl, girl. She's a hardcore, candy-store, gimme-some-more girl, girl

"She's got her wicked sense of humor, can't believe what she says, she drinks Bacardi in the morning 'til it goes to her head and all you want is just to hold her, but she don't go for that she has a hard time coming when she can't hit back!" The rest of the set goes well, and between my songs and my covers the crowd is singing along and hyped up. My heart is racing and I can't stop smiling. I don't care that I'm sweaty and gross from the lights or that my shirt is soaked and my hair is a mess. I feel amazing.

We take a five minute break so they can bring out their small piano for me and I change out of my sweaty tank top into a new black one and a dry pair of shorts. I brush my hair and fix my makeup, knowing Robbie was somewhere in the crowd filming this, I could freshen up a bit at least.

When we come back out on the stage we're met with more cheers, I smile at the crowd and scan the faces, seeing a few people from school. My eyes finally land on Cat and Robbie in the back on a table; I wave at them and fix the mic a bit, running my hand through my hair, "thank you all for coming out, I hope you're having a good time!" I met with louder cheering and I grin.

Blake starts playing and I close my eyes for a moment, "Oh, oh, I feel like I'm a million miles away from myself, more and more these days. I've been down so many open roads, but they never lead me home and now I just don't know. Who I really am, how it's gonna be, is there something that I can't see? I wanna understand." I open my eyes slowly, met with the silent faces in the crowd.

"Maybe I will never be who I was before. Maybe I don't even know her anymore. Or maybe who I am today ain't so far from yesterday. Can I find a way to be every part of me?" My eyes scan across the front row of girls my age or a little bit younger staring up at me smiling. "So I'll try, try to slow things down, and find myself, get my feet back on the ground. It'll take time, but I know I'll be alright cause nothing much has changed on the inside. It's hard to figure out how its gunna be cause I don't really know now. I wanna understand."

My eyes cross over to Jade, she's watching with a blank face, eyes searching mine, "Maybe I will never be who I was before. Maybe I don't even know her anymore. Or maybe who I am today ain't so far from yesterday. Can I find a way to be every part of me? I don't wanna wait too long, to find out where I'm meant to belong. I've always wanted to be where I am today, but I never thought I'd feel this way."

"Maybe I will never be who I was before. Maybe I don't even know her anymore. Or maybe who I am today ain't so far from yesterday. Can I find a way to be every part of me? Every part of me." as the song got closer to the end my stomach twisted in knots, my hands were shaking as I stepped away from the mic and moved to the piano.

I started right in, hands shaking slightly, stomach twisted, "Everybody needs inspiration  
Everybody needs a song, a beautiful melody when the nights are long 'cause there is no guarantee that this life is easy. Yeah when my world is falling apart when there's no light to break up the dark that's when I, I, I look at you." The piano is angled at Jade and I meet her eyes over it.

"When the waves are flooding the shore and I can't find my way home any more that's when I, I, I look at you. When I look at you I see forgiveness, I see the truth, and you love me for who I am. Like the stars hold the moon right there where they belong and I know I'm not alone."

I close my eyes, unable to hold her steady gaze, "Yeah when my world is falling apart  
when there's no light to break up the dark that's when I, I, I look at you. When the waves are flooding the shore and I can't find my way home any more that's when I, I, I look at you."

When I open my eyes again Jade is look at me with a smile on her face that makes my heart flutter in my chest, "You appear just like a dream to me just like kaleidoscope colors that cover me all I need every breath that I breathe don't you know you're beautiful!" she smiles at me, I smile at her, "Yeah yeah, when the waves are flooding the shore and I can't find my way home any more that's when I, I, I look at you."

I lift a question eyebrow at her, "I look at you Yeah Whoa-oh You appear just like a dream to me." the cheering fades in the background as she blinks slowly, lifting a challenging eyebrow, silently daring me. I stand up, walking from the piano to the stairs near their table.

Jade is standing by the time I reach her, I don't know who reached out to who or who leaned in first, it was like we both just pulled each other close, her hands holding my face as my fingers twist into her shirt and I crush my lips against hers, I grab her hip with my free hand and pull her closer, wanting-no needing to be as close to her as possible. Needing to feel her, needing her.

She breaks away first, drawing in ragged breaths, eyes searching my face, "Jade…" I whisper, she kisses me again, cutting off the words stuck in my throat. This kiss is slower, less frantic, but lasts a shorter amount of time as the screaming crowd reaches our ears.

Jade is smirking, and I'm smiling like a fool, noticing Robbie and Cat on the table smiling, and Beck, Andre and Jen somehow moving us away from the crowd and backstage. My hand is still tangled in her shirt and her arms are hanging around my waist when we get behind the door and I hit the wall.

"Were you trying to get yourselves killed?" Jen asks in a motherly voice, Jade and I look at her and back at each other and start laughing. I honestly hadn't been thinking about anything except for Jade, fuck the crowd, fuck my friends, I just wanted her. The door opened and Robbie and Cat stumbled in, Cat throwing herself at us, her arms crushing us together.

I go back on stage a few minutes later and sing until the bar starts to close and then I help my band pack up. Jade is waiting outside for me, leaning against my car with a smile on her face and her hands buried in her pockets. I fix my bag on my shoulder as I walk up to her, grabbing her hips and leaning up to kiss her quickly on the lips, "you need a ride home?"

"Yeah, Andre left with Cat and Robbie." She replies, smiling down at me. I nod my head, unlock the door and watch her circle to the passenger side. We get in at the same time and I toss my bag into the backseat. I chewed on my lip, wondering if I should say something now or wait until we were back at her house.

I waited. Music filled the tense silence between us and my stomach twisted into knots the closer we got to her house the tighter they started to feel. I pulled into her driveway and shut of the car, "walk me to my door." I pulled the keys out, but neither of us made to get out of the car.

The porch light flicked on, her dads face appeared in the window and the lights went back off. Jade chuckled nervously and opened her door. I opened mine and walked her up to the door, standing there awkwardly, unsure what to do.

I opened my mouth to say something, I don't really know what, but Jade cupped my cheek with one hand and dragged me closer to her, her warm lips settling against mine. I put my hands on her stomach to keep from falling over as I got lost in the feeling of her tongue sliding across mine and her hand tangled in my hair. The porch lights flicked on and I jumped away from her just as the door opened.

Jade was leaning against one of the pillars on her porch looking particularly annoyed, "gee dad, peep much?" he rolled his eyes at her and turns to me with a smile. I smile sheepishly back at him, feeling as embarrassed now as I felt the first time he'd caught us kissing.

"You girls can hang out with each other tomorrow." Jade rolls her eyes and walks toward me, bending to give me a quick peck on the lips before she walks inside.

"Bye Jade." I call after her, "bye, Mr. West."

"Goodnight, Tori." He says. He watches me get to my car and back out before he shuts the lights off and closes the front door. My head floats through cloud nine all the way home, and not even Harmony's loud ranting can make me come down from the high. I collapse into my bed like a lovesick idiot and cuddle my pillow, burying my face in it's fluffy depths and squealing like a loser.

A few minutes of basking later I get up and change into something more comfortable to sleep in and curl up in my bed with my phone. My twitter has about a million notifications as usual, Robbie texted me to let me know he emailed me the video and Cat texted me about 30 times about how excited she was that we were all going to be friends again.

Rolling my eyes at her I opened my email and checked out the video, once I finished it I told him it was good with me if he wanted to put it up. He texted me back its link on theSlap and on Youtube about thirty minutes later. I saved the links and then curled up to sleep.

When I woke up I was still in a good mood, and even after seeing a few nasty comments on the videos, I couldn't stop smiling. I went into the kitchen and made some French toast for myself and Harmony, she came out just as I was setting her plate down on the counter.

After my shower I checked my phone and found a text message from Jade that simply said 'come over'. I texted her back that being demanding was rude and changed into a pair of shorts and a tank top before I grabbed my keys and headed over to her house. Her dad and brother were leaving as I pulled in.

"Lock the front door behind you, Tori!" her dad called, waving at me in greeting.

"Okay!" I called back, skipping up the steps to the porch. I pushed the door open and stepped inside, spinning and shutting it behind me. I listen for footsteps and hear Jade thumping around in her bedroom. I skip up the stairs, pausing at her door, it's open and she's standing by her dresser in a pair of underwear, her back to me.

I lean on the door jamb and watch her like the creeper I am, admiring the muscles in her legs when she bends over to get something from the bottom drawer, "enjoy the show, Vega?"

"I'd enjoy it more without the underwear." I reply casually, crossing my feet at the ankles and my arms over each other on my chest.

"Well you should have walked up those stairs faster." I shrugs, slipping her bra on, she turns around to face me as she hooks it around her back, "Hey."

"Good morning." I reply, straightening and walking over to her, I wrap my arms around her back and kiss her slowly. She puts her arms around my neck and pulls me closer, walking backwards until we fall onto her bed. I've missed this more than anything, being with her just made me feel something I'd never felt with anyone else.

Somehow I ended up in my bra and underwear too, Jade pressed against me, panting with her forehead resting against mine, "I really think we should stop…" she doesn't sound like she really wants to stop. I lean up and kiss her again, sliding my tongue across her bottom lip twice before she opened her mouth and her tongue slipped out and ran slowly across mine.

I ran my finger tips down her back and she shuddered against me, breaking the kiss, "Vega…"

"West…" I opened my eyes when she didn't say anything else, "what's wrong?"

"We just got back together, Vega. I'm not ready for this with you…not yet." Her eyes searched my face, her teeth chewing on her lip. I smile and tuck a piece of hair behind her ear.

"Okay." She smiles in relief, "But you're the one that took my shirt off." She laughs and rolls onto the bed next to me. We lay on her bed and she tells me about things I've missed with her and her brother and then we get dressed and take Jenna on a walk, and just walking down the street holding hands has me grinning from ear to ear.

We were on our way back to her place when she stopped outside the property with the cellar. Ryder Daniels was sitting by the doors taking a drag from a cigarette, he looked over at us when we stopped, his eyes flicking from me to Jade quickly, "hey Ryder." Jade called, he waved and put out his cigarette. Jade took a step forward and tugged me with her, Ryder stood and went into his cellar and we went into Jade's garage.

"You two friends again?" I ask, trying to squish the seeds of jealously starting to sprout in my stomach.

"Nope. I just figured it wouldn't kill me to say hi to him, he was my best friend for years; I'm not going to let something as petty as our addictions get between that. He was in rehab while you were away." She unhooks Jenna, "there's nothing else to it."

"You don't need to defend yourself, Jade, you can have friends. Even if they are Ryder Daniels." She smiles and hangs up Jenna's leash. I lean against her counter while she digs through her fridge, absently I toy with the bit of paper in front of me which, upon inspection, I find is an invitation to the red carpet premier of her movie next month. I have one like it at my place.

Jade sets a bottle of water in front of me and looks down at it, she doesn't say anything and neither do I. I unscrew the top of the water bottle and take a swig, "so there's a fair today, I was wondering if you wanted to go." She states, "Everyone else is going…"

"Sounds like fun." she pulls out her phone and texts someone, she gets a reply and she pushes her phone into her back pocket, chugs down her water and pulls out a pad of paper. She scrawls 'at the carnival' across it and leaves it on the counter.

"We're going to meet them there." I follow her to her car happily, staring out the window with a stupid smile on my face, thinking about the carnival and the mattress ride that night. When we get to the fair grounds Cat isn't too hard to find. She's bouncing around by the arm band booth and she starts jumping up and down and waving like we hadn't spotted her bright red hair already.

We pay for our arm bands and follow everyone in. Andre falls into step between Jade and I, he hooks his arms around our shoulders and pull us close to him. Automatically I wrap my arm around his back and so does Jade, "how are my two favorite girls today?" he asks beaming.

"We're just fantastic, who's got you in such a good mood?" Jade asks.

"Why do you assume it's a who?"

"You've got the 'just got laid' face going on so bad right now." Jade teases, Andre laughs and tells us about this girl he's been seeing for a few months, but denies getting laid. I don't believe him and neither does Jade but we don't call him out on it.

Jade drags me on every ride twice, and Cat drags us on some about three times, only stopping when Jade spins the spinner ride to fast and Cat feels sick. When we get off the ride Jade puts her arm around my shoulders and chuckles as Cat leans against Robbie pitifully and tells him she's done with rides.

After that we wander through the fair grounds to the petting zoo where Cat rides a horse and a few girls rush up to me and ask for autographs and pictures. I sign and take the pictures with a smile, talking to them for a few minutes before Cat bounces over, grabs my arm and begs me to come with her to do the rock climb wall.

I make it to the top before she does, and she pouts and forces Robbie to go with her, she's satisfied when she makes it to the top before him and Jade and I leave the pair in search of Beck, Andre and Jen.

We find them at the water gun game, battle a bunch of little girls for a stuffed white Bengal tiger, we say goodbye to them as we walk past. When we walk passed the ladder climb I can't help but think about Jade winning me Rajah. "So Aladdin, what are we doing next?" I ask her when we pass it.

"I don't know Jasmine. Maybe we could go on a magic carpet ride to dinner?" she asks, "I can show you the food, steaming, scrumptious and splendid, tell me, princess now when did you last let your stomach decide?" she spins me around and pulls me against her.

"Sounds perfect." She smiles at me leans down to give me a slow, short kiss.

"Looks like you finally got your girlfriend." The game runner commented, I laughed and looked over at him, only half shocked he remembered me. He smiled and tipped his hat before turning and watching the person on the rope flip and fall off. I lean against Jade, wrapping my arms around her waist. She puts her arm around my shoulder.


	10. Chapter 10

**Whatever It Takes**

**Summary: Tori Vega is a good actress, but she's tired of pretending. All she wants is her old life, her old friends, and her girlfriend back. When leaving is hard, coming back can be even harder. Jade West is tired of the pain, tired of feeling sorry for herself, and ready to start fresh. But sometimes you just can't let go of the things you love, even after they've hurt you.**

**Pairing: Jori**

**Rated: M**

**JPOV**

It was strange to me to think about walking into my own movie premiere, walking down the carpet with stars bigger than me, all going to see my movie. To be playing in the big leagues. But the strangest part of the whole thing was that once I was done with everyone poking and prodding at me with makeup and hair products I was going to go downstairs and wait for my girlfriend to come with me.

As soon as the makeup and hair team set me free I jumped from my chair and almost ran out of the room, working to undo the ties on my robe so I could step into my outfit, as I walked into my bedroom, thankful to be alone. It was a simple pair of dark jeans ripped in certain places and a backless v-neck shirt that tied around my neck. I slipped on a pair of heels picked by my stylist and walked to my vanity where I sat down and stared at myself.

I thought about the last premiere I went to, and how I looked like a strung out nervous mess, and now for this premiere I looked different. I looked more grown up, more professional. Most importantly I looked aware and lucid and I wasn't worried about Ryder trying to bust down my door, or vomiting in the bathroom, or shaking limbs.

In the mirror I could just see my tattoo thanks to the plunging back of the dress. I smiled and looked at the tattoo on my wrist, running my finger lightly over the bumpy scar hidden beneath it. My eyes flicker over the jewelry on the top of the vanity, landing on the necklace from my dad. I pick it up and look at it for a few minutes and then I hook it around my neck, settling it in place.

I pick my phone up and slip it into my pocket, standing up and making my way from the room, heading downstairs. I grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge and chatted with the hair and makeup team who were waiting for Tori's team to come down the stairs so they could leave together. They came down before Tori, accepted water bottles and then the huge group left.

My dad materialized from his office with my brother in toe, both dressed up nicely for the occasion. "You two look great." I complimented, my dad pulled me into a hug, carefully avoiding my hair, still fearing the rather menacing woman who worked on my hair and threatened him with a pair of scissors. My kinda woman, "where's Veronica?"

"She's not up for all the action so she's sleeping already." I nod, not too worried about my dads new wife not attending the premiere. I squatted down and hugged my brother, too. Dad, being the embarrassing pain in my ass he was, took a few pictures of us and demanded I let him wait for Tori. We didn't have to wait to long.

I heard her heels clicking down the hallway from her borrowed guest room. She'd gotten ready here to avoid the chaos at her apartment for Harmony. She came down the stairs in light, tight, pants in a light grey top. Her hair was straightened and her makeup light, in contrast to my dark makeup. Everything about her look was the opposite of mine, her shoes being the only exception-they were the grey version of mine.

My dad snapped a picture of her as she came down the stairs, putting her arm around my waist and kissing my cheek-something else my dad took a picture of while I scowled at the camera, "You know there'll be about a thousand and two pictures of us from tonight, right?"

"None of them in my house or taken by me so shut up and let me take pictures of my daughter and her girlfriend." I sigh and let him take pictures of us, and then of my brother and I and all the fun he wants until the clock says 5:30 and I chase him out of the house with my brother.

"You don't have to chase the man away, he could ride in the limo with us."

"No. They want to get there before the crazy cameras." Eric, Tori's manager, and Smith, my manager, show up around 6 and walk us through handling the premiere and cameras and questions and then walk with us out to the two limos waiting outside. Tori and I take one and the managers take the other.

"Hey Jade?" I turn to look at her and she leans over, throws her arm across my shoulder and crushes me to her, snapping a picture from her phone. She leans against me while she types with one hand and then she sets her phone down and presses her lips against my cheek.

"You're so bizarre sometimes, Vega." I tell her, she smiles and shrugs pulling her arm back from around my neck and leaning against me. I smile pull my vibrating phone from my pocket. Harmony texted me to tell me she was in the limo in front of us. I had no clue how she knew it, but as well pulled up to the premiere I watched her long legs come out of the car and she stood, pausing to wait for her equally tall counter part Claude to emerge from the back seat.

We rolled up next and I hauled in a deep breath, squeezed Tori's hand and the door opened. I swung my legs out and stood up, extending my hand back to Tori. She grabbed it and pulled herself from the limo, lacing her fingers through mine as we walked to Harmony and Claude, pausing for a few questions and for her to sign a few autographs.

Soon the smile I was forcing became a natural smile and I was laughing at my cast mates jokes as we made our way around, only leaving Tori for a few cast photos. After the cast photo Jen hung around me, posing for a few pictures before she led me to Beck and Tori who were laughing and talking with a reporter. When we appeared on either side of them she turned to us and asked us a few questions about filming and what it felt to be on the red carpet and about to go see my first movie.

When she moved on we fled inside, Tori dragging me over to get us something to drink. Once we had our drinks she dragged me around so she could introduce me to some people she knew, and so she could find her band and say hi. We didn't stick around them long. Our managers came and separated us to mingle, but it was at least a little rewarding to talk to other actors, even if I did want to find Tori again.

When the movie was about to start I found her at our seats next to Jen and Beck, Harmony and Claude were a row in front of us. I loved seeing the movie, it came together so well. After the movie we all stood around and talked for about an hour before people started to leave, I tracked down my brother and dad and walked them out to their car, telling them I'd see them tomorrow.

Then Jen grabbed Tori and I and we found ourselves at the bar from the last premiere. Once again I found myself at the bar, but this time underage drinking wasn't an option, because they knew who I was. I got a soda and sat sipping it, watching Tori dancing with Jen. I had no clue where Beck was, but they were having fun so I wasn't going to go ask her so I could have someone to talk to. Two sodas later and Tori was walking away from Jen toward me, eyes locked on me.

"Been having sex?" I tease.

"Not yet." She grabs my hand and drags me off of my chair, dragging me into the mass of sweating bodies. Once again I didn't recognize the song, it was slow and gritty, and the way Tori was dancing to it against me was driving me wild. I let myself get into dancing, because I could use some good relaxing fun, and by the time we stumbled out of the crowd we were both sweaty and tired.

We stopped in the bathroom to clean ourselves up before pushing out of the doors. Our limo, driven by a guy Tori told me was named Eddie, was waiting at the curb for us. The driver opened the door and smiled at us, I smiled back at him and slid in behind Tori while he closed the door.

Tori walked up toward the window that separated us and told him something before she settled down beside me again, "what was that about?" I ask her. She shrugs she shoulder with a secretive smile. When we pull up outside a rather expensive looking apartment complex I'm baffled, but she just shoves me out of the car and waves goodbye to Eddie.

She leads me up to the elevator and we ride up to the third floor. We go into the last door at the end of the hallway and Tori tosses her keys into a bowl and throw her phone onto the couch before she locks the door. I stand by the couch and look around the living room. It's open but has that nice cozy feel to it.

She's got a couch a small table and two arm chairs positioned around the TV hanging on her wall. Her kitchen is small and she's got dishes in the sink that need to be washed. She walks over to me and stops in front of me. It feels like everything has slowed down as she leans in and kisses me slowly, her lips sliding across mine as her hands splay across my lower back and pull me flush against her.

She gently bites my bottom lip as she pulls away, scraping her teeth along it. When I open my eyes she's looking at me with a hooded expression, her eyes dark. I lean in and kiss her frantically, as if something inside me was finally kicked into action. She kisses me back with fervor and forces me to walk backwards. We hit a door and she fumbles with the handle and pushes it open, we tumble into the room, I break the kiss and catch my self on her dresser for balance.

"Tori, are you sure about this?"

"I've never been more sure of anything in my life." She tells me, stepping in front of me, "I love you, Jade, and I want you more than I've ever wanted anything in my life." She kisses me, stopping any reply I might've had, and it's the most passionate kiss I've ever had in my life. My hands find the bottom of her shirt and I tug on it, she pulls away and I tug it off of her before kissing her again, walking toward her bed as she undoes the tie around my neck and unzips the thing. It falls between us and the cold air of her apartment hits me and I gasp against her mouth as we tumble onto her bed.

Her skin feels like satin against mine, her mouth soft and warm against my skin, her teeth cold and harsh. The way her nails drag down my back as I kiss her breasts sets me on fire, the sound of my name coming from her parted lips like a song drives me wild. Everything about her just drives me crazy, and soon everything is tangled limbs and dark red bed sheets.

My body feels completely relaxed and spent when I wake up the next afternoon. We're lying side-by-side, Tori's eyes closed and her hair rumpled. Her legs are twisted in the sheets and she's clutching them too her chest. One breast covered the other moving up and down with her steady breath beside my arm.

She looked so peaceful asleep, all the tension from her face gone, like most people do. But she just makes it look so damn beautiful. I want to just lay beside her stare at her for all of eternity but my bladder has other plans for me so I carefully slip out of her bed and cross the room to the door, turning back to admire her bare ass before I slip out the door.

I find the bathroom across the apartment and silently close the door behind me before taking care of my business, borrowing some mouth wash, and washing my hands. I wipe the remainder of the makeup from my face and fix the curls in my hair so they aren't sticking up in random directions and then I head back into Tori's room.

She's awake now, laying on her side with her phone in her hand, "not tweeting naked pictures are you?" she slowly lifts her eyes from her phone to me, smiles sleepily and turns back to the phone. I cross the room and crawl back into the bed behind her, resting my chin on her shoulder, "what's up?"

"Reading my schedule for the next month." She put her phone down and rolled over so now I was resting my chin above her breast. I leaned up and kissed her before resting my head against her chest. She ran her fingers down my side and smiled down at me, "So any plans for the day?"

"Unfortunately, as much as I'd love to stay here and map out every curve of your body, I've got to go have lunch with my family." I scowl at the thought of having to leave the bed, "and then I'm going with Veronica to pick out her baby clothes. You wanna tag along?"

"I'd love you, but are you sure she wont mind?"

"Positive." We get up and she changes into a new outfit while I drag on my clothes from last night. I fix my hair with her flat iron in the bathroom and touch up the makeup I just couldn't get off before we head down to her car. I tell my dad the plan and he gives me the name of the restaurant. It's a bit of a drive from her apartment, and when we get there the other three are already there.

Veronica Masters is a nice woman, and as much as I despise her cheerful, bubbly personality and the way she sees the world as rainbows and cookies, she makes my dad happy so I can't help but like her, "good afternoon, girls. It's nice to see you again Tori."

"You too, Veronica." Tori gives her a careful hug around her swollen baby bump, I just smile at her and take a seat beside my brother. She doesn't look to hurt at my greeting, in fact she looks like she couldn't care less. It was perfect. Tori sat down across from her and asked her a million questions about the baby while I talked to my brother about the movie, he's still super excited he got to see his first PG13 movie, and that his sister was in it.

"You know Jade, Tori and I were talking, and if you don't want to go with us you can always go help your dad and brother clean out the babies room." I glance at Tori who kick's my leg.

"I don't mind, really." I smile at her and she smiles back. After lunch we go to the huge baby store full of expensive things only Veronica can afford. She met my dad through Smith, she was a manager of some high profile clients, and now she was a home designer for them.

She'd come with Smith one day when we started filming the movie because she was going to help him with his girlfriends house, and she'd hit it off with my dad pretty well. They got married about four months ago after finding out she was three months pregnant, and now she wanted to get the baby room all set up. So she went through the store picking out furniture she liked and the colors for the walls I would be painting, since I was the only one that could paint in the family.

She picked a soft yellow for the trim and light blue for the walls, the colors went nice together, after the colors she picked out stencils for things she wanted painted on the walls, and by the time we were done we had our work cut out. Tori drove us back to the house where my dad and brother were finally done cleaning out the room across the hall from the guest room, three doors down from mine.

Tori helped me paint the room before she went and borrowed my shower. Everyone else was downstairs in the living room, so nobody noticed when I pushed open the door to my bedroom and opened the window. Carefully I crawled up into the tree happily settling myself where the branch met the base of the tree.

"Jade?" my eyes opened slowly and I looked into the window where Tori was standing in a pair of borrowed shorts and a tank top, toweling off her hair. She tossed the towel over the back of my computer chair and wandered over to the window, carefully stepping out onto the roof, "there you are. You coming down?"

"Only if you come up and get me." I tease. She smirks, and much to my surprise, makes her way up to me, settling down on the branch next to me, "well that's new."

"Trees are good hiding places." She shrugs, like that explains everything, and then she tips her head back, "I'm starting to see why you like being up here." We stay up in the tree and talk until my brother runs through the house screaming about dinner being ready. I follow Tori inside, shutting my window and locking it before following her down to dinner. Veronica has made a point to make dinner for us almost every night since she moved in, destroying the unhealthy diet of fast food we lived on.

Tonight she's made steak, a salad and potatoes. If there's one thing I love about her it's that she's an amazing cook, I inhale my steak and potatoes, so while everyone else is still eating their meal I'm picking at my salad, after dinner Tori and I clean up and then head back to her apartment with a bag of my clothes.

Once we get inside the apartment I wrap my arms around her neck and kiss her slowly as she leans against me, her hands on my hips, "I think we have to celebrate my moving in properly." She pulls me toward her room, closing the door firmly behind us. I'm by the bed when she turns around, staring me down with dark eyes and a determined expression.

It's safe to say that the night I moved in was a great night.

**Fin. **


End file.
